Historically, fathers (or families) routinely paid businesses to take on their sons as apprentices.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, this upfront cash payment was known as an apprenticeship premium. [1, 2, 3]
Instead of the business paying the young worker, the family paid the master craftsman or business owner. [3]
How the "Premium" System Worked
- The Financial Barrier: To secure a highly desirable trade for a son—such as becoming a silversmith, printer, or legal clerk—a father had to shell out a substantial sum of money upfront. [3, 4]
- Why the Master Demanded It: For the first few years, an apprentice was often a financial liability. They didn't know the trade, made mistakes, broke tools, and wasted materials. The father's premium covered the cost of the master housing, feeding, and teaching the teenager during those initial, unproductive years. [4, 5, 6]
- The "Security Deposit" Effect: The premium also acted as insurance. Once an apprentice became highly skilled in their final years, they provided valuable, free labor to the master. If the teenager ran away early to earn actual wages elsewhere, the master at least kept the father's upfront premium. [4, 6]
The Dickens Connection
This exact dynamic shows up in Charles Dickens's novels:
- In Great Expectations, the wealthy Miss Havisham gives Pip a premium of £25 so he can legally bind himself as an apprentice to Joe Gargery the blacksmith.
- In David Copperfield, David's aunt pays a steep premium of £1,000 to the law firm Spenlow and Jorkins so David can enter the prestigious profession of a proctor (a type of attorney).
So while the apprentice was "unpaid" in terms of a weekly salary, the arrangement was actually a highly commercial transaction where the family paid the employer for the education. [2]
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