Verdingkinder

thumb|A child slicing Swiss chard leaves prior to drying them on the stove or sun drier, Switzerland, 1917

', , "contract children", or "indentured child laborers'" were children in Switzerland who were removed from their families by the authorities due to poverty or moral reasons (e.g. the mother being unmarried, very poor, of Yenish origin, neglect, etc.), and placed in foster families, often poor farmers who needed cheap labour. In the early 2000s, many of these children, by then adults, publicly stated that they had been severely mistreated by their foster families, suffering neglect, beatings and other physical and psychological abuse. The scheme was common in Switzerland from the 1800s until the 1960s.