{"id":1879,"date":"2016-11-26T00:34:18","date_gmt":"2016-11-26T00:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/?p=1879"},"modified":"2026-03-04T00:44:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T00:44:33","slug":"working-conditions-in-the-industrial-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/working-conditions-in-the-industrial-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Working Conditions in the Industrial Revolution: A Detailed Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the main features of the\u00a0Industrial Revolution<\/a>\u00a0was the horrendous working conditions that people faced.\u00a0 At the time, industrial cities and towns<\/a> grew dramatically due to the migration of farmers and their families who were looking for work in the newly developed factories and mines.\u00a0 These factories and mines were dangerous and unforgiving places to work in.\u00a0 The working conditions that working-class people<\/a> faced were known to include: long hours of work (12-16 hour shifts), low wages that barely covered the cost of living, dangerous and dirty conditions and workplaces with little or no worker rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WHAT LED TO THE WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To better understand the situation, its first important to understand the political ideology of the time, which historians refer to as classical liberalism<\/a>.\u00a0 Classical liberalism is an ideology characterized by\u00a0laissez-faire capitalism<\/a>, which means that the government played as little a role in the economy as possible.\u00a0 As a result, there were little to no rules in place for workers in the Industrial Revolution<\/a>, and the wealthy owners could act in any manner that they wanted.\u00a0 For example, the factories and mines were incredibly dangerous places with very few safeguards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Industrial
The Industrial Revolution is a significant event in world history because it transformed European and North American societies from being based on agriculture production to industrial production.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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LONG HOURS OF WORK<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first main feature of industrial workplaces was the long hours of work.  It was not uncommon for workers to be expected to work shifts of 16 hours per day in grueling conditions.  The work was labor intensive and required the workers to complete repetitive and tiring actions.  As such, many of the workers were physically \u2018burned out\u2019 after a day of work.  What made the situation worse was the lack of breaks during the long shifts.  Often workers were denied their breaks or were deducted pay for taking a break.  As well, they were also sometimes required to clean the machines during their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Women
Women and a girl working in a textile mill in the Industrial Revolution. Photograph by Lewis Hine in Georgia in 1909. (Colorized by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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LOW PAY \/ WAGES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The next aspect of the working conditions that industrial workers were forced to endure was the low wages of pay.\u00a0 In general, industrial workers were paid very small amounts and struggled to survive.\u00a0 For example, adult men were paid around 10 shillings per week, while women were paid 5 shillings for the same work, and children were paid just 1 shilling.\u00a0 In comparison, families were usually charged 5 shillings per month for rent.\u00a0 This did not usually leave much left over for food, clothes and luxury items.\u00a0 As a result, they often struggled to cover their cost of living and had to also endure difficult living conditions.\u00a0 As well, workers often had their pay deducted for being late or for taking a break during their shift.\u00a0 The level of pay was so poor that many working-class families needed their children to work as well, in order to help cover the costs of the family. For their part, factory and mine owners were eager to hire children since they cost less to employ, and they could often be used for certain work due to their size.\u00a0 As a result,\u00a0child labor<\/a>\u00a0was common during the Industrial Revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Child
‘Breaker Boys, Child Coal Miners for the Pennsylvania Coal Company in 1912. (Colorized by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DIRTY AND DANGEROUS WORKPLACES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The third feature of workplaces in the Industrial Revolution was the dirty and dangerous conditions that workers were expected to endure during their shifts.\u00a0 For example factories of the Industrial Revolution were notorious for being dangerous, especially\u00a0textile mills<\/a>.\u00a0 Spinning machines in textile mills were often left unguarded and posed a serious risk.\u00a0 For instance, a report from the British House of Commons in 1832 commented that\u00a0\u201cThere are factories, no means few in number, nor confined to the smaller mills, in which serious accidents are continually occurring, and in which, notwithstanding, dangerous parts of the machinery are allowed to remain unfenced.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 This situation caused industrial workers to become injured, as they were working dangerously close to spinning belts and shafts that powered the machines.\u00a0 Any loose fitting clothing could easily become clogged and pull the worker violently into the workings of the machine.\u00a0 Furthermore, the factories of the Industrial Revolution were known for the excruciating heat.\u00a0 Factories in the Industrial Revolution were cramped and contained spaces.\u00a0 Often times, they were built without windows or proper ventilation and as a result the machines would quickly cause the inside temperature of the factory to increase dramatically.\u00a0 All of this combined to create a horrendous situation for the workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Textile
Child laborers in a textile factory in Georgia in 1909. (Colorized by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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LACK OF RIGHTS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The final aspect of the working conditions that people faced in the Industrial Revolution was the lack of rights.\u00a0 As previously stated, the political ideology of the time was classical liberalism.\u00a0 This was a highly individualistic ideology<\/a> that was based on little or no government involvement.\u00a0 As a result, this meant that the government did little to protect workers from being exploited by the wealthy entrepreneurs of the time.\u00a0 For example, child labor was a common feature of life in the Industrial Revolution.\u00a0 Since there were no child labor laws at the start of the Industrial Revolution, factory and mine owners were free to hire children and employ them in incredibly dangerous situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, in modern society, governments are often responsible for establishing minimum wage laws in order to protect workers from being underpaid.\u00a0 However, during the Industrial Revolution, no such laws existed and as a result, industrial workers barely made enough to cover their cost of living.\u00a0 Another example of how workers lacked rights was in regards to how they were treated if they were injured while at work.\u00a0 As discussed in the previous paragraph, the workplaces of the Industrial Revolution were incredibly dangerous and workers often suffered from horrible injuries that made it impossible for them to keep working.\u00a0 Because the government practised laissez-faire capitalism<\/a>, this meant that they did not have initiatives in place to force factories to protect workers or to compensate them when they became injured and could no longer work.\u00a0 For example, a report from the British House of Commons in 1832 commented that\u00a0\u201cworkers are often abandoned from the moment that an accident occurs; their wages are stopped, no medical attendance is provided, and whatever the extent of the injury, no compensation is afforded.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Therefore, workers lacked basic rights in regards to protecting themselves from harm and in regards to receiving assistance after they were injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION – SUMMARY<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In conclusion, the lives of industrial workers in the Industrial Revolution was difficult.\u00a0 They were expected to endure long hours of work for very little pay and were often placed in incredibly dirty and dangerous situations.\u00a0 As well, they lacked the basic rights necessary to fight for better conditions. Regardless, the harsh working conditions of the Industrial Resolution eventually led to the labor movement<\/a> and the American Labor Movement<\/a>, which sought to give rights and protections to working-class people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Second
Workers on the first moving assembly line put together magnetos and flywheels for 1913 Ford automobiles. (1913) (Colorized by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Working conditions in the Industrial Revolution were often dirty and dangerous and made life for the working-class difficult.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":157,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[15,17],"class_list":["post-1879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industrial-revolution","tag-history","tag-industrial-revolution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1879"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6133,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879\/revisions\/6133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}