How Did The Government Deal With Working And Living Conditions During The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a time period in which the economy of Britain went from being based on farming and agriculture to factories and mass production. Many people moved from the countryside to cities after they lost their jobs as farmers, and either worked in factories or were unemployed. This led to poor working and living conditions for the working class, which the rich benefited from. In order to better the quality of life for people in Britain, three major economic theories emerged. Utilitarianism was the idea that the government should make decisions based on what would bring the greatest benefit to the majority of the population. Capitalism was the philosophy that the government shouldn’t interfere in economics, and the economy would run smoothly by itself based on the laws of supply and demand. Lastly, socialism was

The best economic theory to deal with working and living conditions and inequality during the Industrial Revolution would have been socialism. Socialism would have improved working conditions and lessened poverty in Great Britain. Laborers in the Industrial Revolution worked extremely long hours and were under strict control by their employer. Industrial factory worker Elizabeth Bentley said “I worked from five in the morning till nine at night...If I had been too late at the mill, I would have been quartered. I mean that if I had been a quarter of an hour too late, a half an hour would have been taken off. I only got a penny an hour, and they would have taken a halfpenny.” A socialist government would protect workers by giving them more regular hours and not docking wages, because it wouldn’t be in the interest of the government to take advantage of workers, unlike when the factories are owned by individuals or corporations who would benefit from the increased profit due to having laborers work for longer. Furthermore, most working class children weren’t being educated due