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Living and working conditions in the Industrial Revolution
Living and working conditions in the Industrial Revolution
Working conditions in the factories
Working conditions in the factories
Long working hours - normal shifts were usually 12-14 hours a day, with extra time required during busy periods. Workers were often required to clean their machines during their mealtimes.
Low wages - a typical wage for male workers was about 15 shillings (75p) a week, but women and children were paid much less, with women earning seven shillings (35p) and children three shillings (15p). For this reason, employers preferred to employ women and children. Many men were sacked when they reached adulthood; then they had to be supported by their wives and children.
Cruel discipline - there was frequent strapping (hitting with a leather strap). Other punishments included hanging iron weights around children's necks, hanging them from the roof in baskets, nailing children's ears to the table, and dowsing them in water butts to keep them awake.
Fierce systems of fines - these were imposed for talking or whistling, leaving the room without permission, or having a little dirt on a machine. It was claimed that employers altered the time on the clocks to make their workers late so that they could fine them. Some employers demanded that their overseers raise a minimum amount each week from fines.
Accidents - forcing children to crawl into dangerous, unguarded machinery led to many accidents. Up to 40 per cent of accident cases at Manchester Infirmary in 1833 were factory accidents.
Health - cotton thread had to be spun in damp, warm conditions. Going straight out into the cold night air led to many cases of pneumonia. The air was full of dust, which led to chest and lung diseases and loud noise made by machines damaged workers' hearing.
The 1833 Factory Act
The 1833 Factory Act
In 1833 the government passed a “Factory Act” that changed the ways in which children were treated in the factories. The act ensured the following:
No child under the age of 9 was allowed to work
Employers must have a age certificate for their workers
Children between 9 and 13 were to work no more than 9 hours a day
Children between 13 and 18 were to work no more than 12 hours a day
Children were not to work at night
Children were to receive 2 hours of schooling every day
4 factory inspectors were employed to enforce the law.
However the Act does not address the bad treatment and specific conditions of the working environment. Titus Salt and
Robert Owens, two factory owners in Bradford and New Lanark in Scotland did lead the way.
They introduced new boilers which led to cleaner air and cleaner and more structured factories that allowed workers to have a better time at work, be paid fairer wages, have better working hours and even better living conditions while living and working in the mills. They stressed that the use of education from a young age would change the quality of life for children as they grew into adulthood.
Why were living conditions so poor in the nineteenth century?
Why were living conditions so poor in the nineteenth century?
In 1750, only about 15 per cent of the population lived in towns. By 1900 it was 85 per cent.
Overcrowding - due to large numbers of people moving to the cities, there were not enough houses for all these people to live in. Low wages and high rents caused families to live in as small a space as possible. Sometimes whole families lived in one room.
Pollution - coal was used to heat houses, cook food and heat water to produce steam to power machines in factories. The burning of coal created smoke, which led to terrible pollution in the cities.
Waste disposal - gutters were filled with litter and the streets were covered in horse manure, collected by boys to sell to farmers. Human waste was discharged directly into the sewers, which flowed straight into rivers. In London, Parliament had to stop work because the smell from the Thames became too much.
Poor quality housing - houses were built very close together so there was little light or fresh air inside them. They did not have running water and people found it difficult to keep clean. Houses often suffered from damp due to their thin walls and roofs made out of cheap materials. Many households had to share a single outside toilet that was little more than a hole in the ground.
Lack of fresh water - people could get water from a variety of places, such as streams, wells and stand pipes, but this water was often polluted by human waste.
Disease - typhus, typhoid, tuberculosis and cholera all existed in the cities of England. Cholera reached England for the first time in 1830, and there were further major epidemics in 1832 and 1848. Overcrowding, housing of a low standard and poor quality water supplies all helped spread disease.
Outcomes Focused, Child Centred
Outcomes Focused, Child Centred
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