Final answer:
Jane Addams lobbied for mandatory school attendance to improve the prospects of working-class children, seeing education as a means to escape poverty and gain social mobility. Along with other Progressives, she believed that schooling could act as an engine of social reform and individual advancement.
Step-by-step explanation:
Jane Addams, a pioneer in social reform, lobbied for mandatory school attendance for children because she recognized the crucial role of education in elevating the prospects of working-class children. Unlike children from professional backgrounds, who could rely on a continuous education and the support of stay-at-home mothers, working-class children often had no choice but to work in order to support their families. This early employment denied them the opportunity of schooling and the chance to secure skilled jobs as adults, thus perpetuating a cycle of poverty.
Progressives like Jane Addams and Florence Kelley, deeply disturbed by the grim conditions of child labor, aimed to transition children from factory floors to classrooms. They believed public education served as an engine of social mobility, allowing children from modest backgrounds to gain essential skills and knowledge, thus increasing their opportunities for upward mobility. Addams's efforts were part of a wider political agenda that included housing laws, child labor laws, and worker's compensation laws, to protect children and improve their life chances.
The drive for mandatory school attendance was, therefore, part of a larger struggle for social justice, aiming to provide all children, regardless of socio-economic background, with an equal start in life. Their advocacy was part of a broader societal recognition that education was fundamental to spurring not just American industry, but also individual advancement and societal reform.