Factory life during the industrial revolution

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1 Worker life
2 Notes

[edit] Worker life

During the industrial revolution, the movement of people away from their tradition agriculture into industrial cities brought great stress to many people in the work force. This brought stress especially to women. Women in households who had earned income from spinning found that the new factories were taking away their only source of income. Traditional handloom weavers could no longer compete with the mechanized production of cloth. Skilled laborers sometimes lost their jobs as new machines replaced them. In the factories, people had to work long hours under harsh conditions. Factory owners and managers paid the minimum amount necessary for a work force, often recruiting women and children to tend the machines because they could be hired for a much lower wage. Soon critics attacked this exploitation, particularly the use of child labor.

The role of workers changed as a result of the division of labor, an idea important to the Industrial Revolution that called for dividing the production process into basic, individual tasks. This decreased the time of goods produced. Each worker would then perform one task, rather than a single worker doing the entire job. Such division of labor greatly improved productivity, but many of the simplified factory jobs were repetitive and very boring. Workers also had to labor for many hours, often more than 12 hours a day, sometimes more than 14, and people worked six days a week. Factory workers faced strict rules and close supervision by managers and overseers.

In the 1820s, income levels for most workers began to improve, and people adjusted to the different circumstances and conditions. By that time, Britain had changed forever. The economy was expanding at a rate that was more than twice the pace at which it had grown before the Industrial Revolution. Although vast differences existed between the rich and the poor, most of the population enjoyed some of the fruits of economic growth. The widespread poverty and constant threat of mass starvation that had haunted the preindustrial age lessened in industrial Britain. Although the overall health and material conditions of the population improved, critics continued to point to urban crowding and the harsh working conditions in the factories.

The youngest children in the textile factories were usually employed as scavengers and piecers. Piecers had to lean over the spinning-machine to repair the broken threads. Scavengers had to pick up the loose cotton from under the machinery. This was extremely dangerous as the children were expected to carry out the task while the machine was still working.^[1]

[edit] Food

Factory owners were responsible for providing their pauper apprentices with food. Children constantly complained about the quality of the food. In most textile mills the children had to eat their meals while still working. This meant that the food tended to get covered with the dust from the cloth.It was very hard to get food in the industrial revolution due to little pay and poor wages.^[2]

[edit] Employment

Many parents were unwilling to allow their children to work in these new textile factories. To overcome this labour shortage factory owners had to find other ways of obtaining workers. One solution to the problem was to obtain children from orphanages and workhouses. These children became known as pauper apprentices. This involved them signing contracts that virtually made them the property of the factory owner.

[edit] Punishments

Children who worked long hours in the textile mills became very tired and found it difficult to maintain the speed required by the over lookers. Children were usually hit with a strap to make them work faster. In some factories children were dipped head first into the water cistern if they became drowsy. Children were also punished for arriving late for work and for talking to the other children. Apprentices who ran away from the factory were in danger of being sent to prison. Children who were considered potential runaways were placed in irons.They would also have weights tied to their necks if they wearn't working quick or good enough.^[3]

[edit] Accidents

One of the main concerned about the number of textile workers was the safety of the factories. Unguarded machinery was a major problem for children working in factories. There were reports that every year there are nearly a thousand people treated for wounds and mutilations caused by machines in factories. Many of the workers were often abandoned from a moment that is when accident occurs. Their wages are stopped, no medical attendance is provided and no compensation is given.^[4]