Industrialization was a huge part of the 19th century. The industrial revolution started in the later part of the 1700’s. Before the industrial revolution many people worked from home to create anything they needed for daily life, such as clothes. The industrial revolution brought about machines that changed the way people lived forever, these inventions included the textile, the iron, the steam engine, and many more. With all the inventions there was a change in lifestyle. Some of these lifestyle changes were good. However, with all the good things that the industrial revolution brought, there were also some negatives. One of the biggest negatives was the working conditions for the lower class and for children. Although these conditions for …show more content…
Some of the worst conditions were long hours, low wages, cruel discipline, lots of accidents, unhealthy work environments, and the list could go on. The workers in these factories had to work unusually long hours, “normal shifts were usually 12-14 hours a day. Also, during these shifts, the workers were forced to clean their areas during meal times. These poor to middle-class workers would work almost all day with little to no breaks. When they did get breaks to eat, they would still have to clean or do other tasks that the factory owners needed to be done. Not only did these workers work super long, hard hours, they were not being paid fairly for the hours they worked, “a typical wage for male workers was about 15 shillings (75p)[105 US Dollars] a week, but women and children were paid much less, with women earning seven shillings (35p)[ 49 US Dollars] and children three shillings (15p)[21 US Dollars](BBC). Men cost a lot more than women and children, thus they tended to get fired a lot more, which meant women and children were earning the money to keep the household going. These wages were barely enough to support themselves, let alone a family. Along with long hours and little pay, the factory owners had strict policies the workers had to follow and if they didn’t, they would get punished. Some of these punishments were “frequent "strapping" (hitting with a leather strap). Other punishments included …show more content…
The first act to be passed by parliament to protect all workers, but especially children was the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act. This act limited the workday of children to 12 hours in one day. Some other acts passed to protect children were the Cotton Factories Regulation Act of 1819. This act set the minimum working age to 9 years old. The next act parliament enacted was the Regulation of Child Labor Law of 1833. This act made a position so that paid inspectors would go in and check factories to make sure they were following the law. The last act was the Ten Hours Bill of 1847 which made a law saying women and children could only work 10 hours a day. These acts were all crucial to making sure that women and children were not