The Industrial Revolution brought about many positive things. During this time society benefitted from making more goods, cheaper labor and overall improved the economy. However, it also had a very negative effect on society. Industrialization’s negative effects were child labor, unequal pay, over populated and poor living conditions. These are the reasons why many people thought the Industrial Revolution was harmful. The worst of these things was child labor and the effect it had on families. Child labor was a cruel, unjust way to earn money. Most kids at this time did not go to school and had deformities from working in harsh conditions. One example was Elizabeth Bentley, who testified before a parliamentary committee investigating conditions …show more content…
Women made 1/3 of what men made for the equal amount of labor. Mary Paul is not happy with her working conditions, but she believes it to be the best work for her as a woman “I think the factory is the best place for me.” (Document1). Women in the factories had to work very hard for very little pay. Women had unequal pay because society thought they weren’t capable of working like men. In this poem it shows just how hard this life was for little kids “I have a little boy at home, A pretty little son; I think sometimes the world is mine. In him my only one… Before dawn my labor drives me forth. TIS the night when I am free; a stranger am I to my child; and he one to me” (Document 2). This document shows that both she and her son work in the factories. They work so much that they have become strangers because they never see each other. This next document shows the negative side of children working in the factories "This shows the ugly side of child labor, Lack of safety features/unsafe working conditions, the children working are very young they are obviously not in school/lack of education” (Document8). In this document they talk about how children working in these factories don’t get a good education, they do not have enough time to attend school. It also shows how they are very easily injured from working in these harsh conditions. Not only was there unequal pay for women, boys, and girls, but there was