Industrial Revolution Family Analysis

With the Industrial Revolution taking place in the early and mid-nineteenth century, the meanings of marriage and family were beginning to put strains on the social implications of Britain. The meaning of family in a household could be seen, prior to the Industrial Revolution, as very strong and committed to working to produce an income for the family. However, marriage and family had different beliefs based on the social class that each family was born into. The four types of classes that saw change in their marriage and family ideologies were the poor, the working class, the middle class, and the higher middle class. These classes not only saw a change in the meaning of family and marriage, but they saw a change in the meaning of life. In

The poor needed to be recognized because of their possibility and strive to be better than they were left off as in the years prior to the industrial revolution. However, the strain they felt was far different than what the other two classes felt with the ideas of family and marriage. The working class was the significant class that could feel the strain and effect of the change of family size. This was the first time in Britain that the working class felt a need to be like the higher classes above them. However, due to the increased production of machines, the tension on the ideas of family and how a family should be implemented was the working classes biggest strain. Finally, the middle classes were not primarily affected by the industrial revolution, but they were affected by the higher class, the aristocrats. The overall issue that all of the classes faced with the industrial revolution and how it affected the beliefs on family and marriage was change. Because of a change in economy, work, and machinery the society of Britain began to change the original ideas of family and marriage to fit the newly formed industrial society, allowing Britain’s industry and hierarchy to put strain and change for the people in the mid-nineteenth