Working Conditions in Factories During the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The Working Conditions in Factories during the Industrial Revolution
Women Labor during the Industrial Revolution
Child Labor during the Industrial Revolution
Reforms of the Working Conditions in Factories during the Industrial Revolution
Conclusion
References

Introduction

In the second half of the 18^th century, there was a period of development, which received the name of The Industrial Revolution. At that time, agrarian societies in Europe and the United States turned into urban, and Great Britain was the birthplace for this process. Due to its mild damp climate, which allowed raising sheep, England has a good reputation for producing textiles, such as wool and cotton. The process of manufacturing was mostly done by hand in small workshops. The events of the middle of the 18^th century led to the introduction of new technologies and machines, which allowed producing larger quantities of goods. During that period, hand-work was “superseded by machine-work almost universally, nearly all manipulations were conducted by the aid of steam or water” (Engels 1887, 106). Since then, new improvements and innovations were appearing almost every year.

Merchandized production helped Britain to satisfy the demands for cloth both inside the country and abroad. Such inventions as the flying shuttle, the power loom, and the spinning jenny facilitated the process of textile production, made it faster, and allowed a decrease in the required human labor. Besides cloth, Great Britain was famous for its iron industry, which also adopted numerous innovations. The major technique was the replacement of ordinary charcoal with a material created by heating coal, which is called coke for smelting iron ore. This technique was cheaper and allowed producing higher-quality material, which helped Britain meet the requirements of the railroad industry. Thus, the Industrial Revolution was a time of huge progress and numerous changes and innovations provided people with working places in factories and mines. However, for workers, life was difficult, despite the whole country’s economic improvement, as labor conditions were poor and even dangerous, and included long working hours, fines, and low wages.

The Working Conditions in Factories during the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution laid a foundation for immersive development. It created new jobs, new products, and increased trade opportunities. However, it involved many problems as well, as people went to cities to find work, and such a mass migration caused enormous growth of cities. Moreover, working conditions, especially in factories, were often critical and dangerous for multiple different reasons. First of all, there was an increased risk in working with machinery, as many technologies were still undeveloped. Many enterprises worked with flammable chemicals, where even the smallest spark could cause an explosion. Moreover, most of the facilities of that time were unsafe, as they were filled with dust, which made breathing difficult and caused many lung diseases, including cancer. The employees were not protected by any safety protocols or legal regulations, and entrepreneurs of that time were not obeying any orders, thus, having no financial reasons to protect their workers.

Other poor working conditions in factories include the timing of work, salaries, and health problems. One of the most critical issues was long working hours with the shift, which could take from 12 to 14 hours a day, and even more during busy periods. Moreover, employees often had to clean their equipment during their breaks for a meal. In addition, the salaries were low and did not justify the existing hard labor conditions. A typical male worker usually earned approximately 15 shillings (75 pounds) a week, while women and children received an even smaller wage of 7 shillings (35 pounds), and 3 shillings (15 pounds) (BBC n.d.). Entrepreneurs often preferred to employ women and children, so that they could pay less. The most unpleasant situation was that while the cost of produced goods adapted itself to the cheaper price of the machine labor, “its human competitor has but the lowest wages” (Engels 1887, 108). Thus, the workers suffered from the increasing speed of technology development.

In addition to low salaries, most enterprises used a severe system of fines, which were given for leaving the room without permission, talking, or having equipment not properly cleaned. Numerous witnesses claimed that employers even turned clocks forward to fine workers for being late. On top of that, the general conditions at the working place were hard, and, in many cases, even dangerous. First of all, the discipline was cruel, as the system of hitting employees with a leather strap was widespread. Among other punishments, there was “hanging iron weights around children’s necks, nailing children’s ears to the table, and dowsing them in water butts to keep them awake” (BBC n.d., para. 4). The accidents at factories were also frequently happening, as children were often forced to crawl into dangerous machinery. For example, in 1833, approximately 40 percent of accidents at Manchester Infirmary happened at the facility (BBC n.d.). The reason for it is that the equipment was often not fenced off, and workers were exposed to its moving parts during the work.

The health state of workers was threatened as well since the textile had to be manufactured in damp, warm conditions. It led to numerous cases of pneumonia as a result of leaving the working place by going out into the dusty cold air. In such industries as the cotton trade, the conditions were especially hard to endure as the work meant that “the workplace had to be very hot, steam engines contributing further to the heat” (Moorhouse 2020, para. 2). In addition, in many factories, it was cold during the winter. All these factors led to the people’s exhaustion, which naturally resulted in them losing concentration and becoming slow, making the workplace even more dangerous. Moreover, the workers’ hearing and sight were also damaged, as there was a negative influence of the loud noise made by machines, and the light which was always insufficient in most of the enterprises. Thus, working at factories at the time of the Industrial Revolution was dangerous, having made people sacrifice their health to provide for their families.

Women Labor during the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution seriously influenced different social classes, including women. Those, who did not come from wealthy families, had to go to mines and factories to make a living and provide for their families. Women were typically receiving one-third of an average salary, compared to men, and employers used this advantage to pay less. Women were often employed on assembly lines, provided laundry services, and worked in the textile mills, as their smaller fingers were often better in operating the equipment. However, despite the hard work conditions, which often could present danger, their jobs were regarded to be less skilled than those of male workers.

Women during the Industrial Revolution often began working since early childhood, many of them were sent to perform the job when they were six years old. Moreover, they also had to take care of the house and family, so they had to work day and night to be able to cope with all their duties. The employment of women destructed families as a mother having no time for her child, “must inevitably grow indifferent to it,” leading to future inability to have normal families for children raised in such conditions (Engels 1887, 110). In many cases, when the family was not completely ruined, it was turned upside down. There were uncountable situations when the wife provided for the family, and the husband was at home, caring for babies, and doing housework. It was seen frequently, for example, in Manchester there were “many hundred such men,” condemned to domestic occupations (Engels 1887, 111). It is obvious, that such a situation often left men confused about their role in life and caused even more problems for the mental state of the family.

The working conditions at most of the enterprises were bad for all the workers, making women no exception. The female employees were often forced to work for the whole shift without a break. There was an allowed period of forty minutes for a meal, but people often had to continue working. Moreover, the food was always of poor quality and covered in dust, and many female workers later confessed that they skipped the break and did not eat at work at all. At that time, the regulations, capable of making entrepreneurs make the workplace better for people, were absent as workers were easily replaceable. It gave the basis for the factory owners not to improve the working conditions at their facilities, even for women and children.

Child Labor during the Industrial Revolution

Apart from women, many factories widely used child labor as well, despite the unsafe conditions. The practice of involving children in work had existed long before industrialization, as kids of poor and working-class families were always helping with house management or assisted in the family’s business. At the time of textile mills’ appearance, child apprentices were employed for work, and the meaning of “child labor” changed. During the Industrial Revolution, enterprises employed children for the same reason as women, since they required lower salaries and their little fingers were better for operating the equipment.

Factories often hired little kids for them to enter places, which were too small for adults. Moreover, they often used the labor of orphans from workhouses and made them apprentices of the factories’ employers. These children were provided with food and cloth, but they did not receive any wage for their shifts. The under-aged individuals had the same labor conditions as adults and worked 12 hours per day. These employees were especially vulnerable to poor treatment, accidents, health conditions, even contagious diseases, such as typhus, typhoid, and smallpox. Many of them were killed as a result of horrible accidents. Moreover, in many factory districts, drugs were widely used to keep children still. Dr. Johns, Registrar in Chief for Manchester, claimed that this was the reason for many deaths from convulsions (Engels 1887). Many factory owners said that they required employing children in order for their enterprises to run smoothly and manufacture competitive products. Thus, child labor played a crucial role during the Industrial Revolution, and the practice of using it in factories was widespread until the middle of the 19^th century.

Reforms of the Working Conditions in Factories during the Industrial Revolution

In time, the working conditions in factories began raising numerous concerns, especially regarding the use of child labor. There appeared reformers, who proposed changes in order to improve the lives of working people. However, numerous factory owners demonstrated resistance as they were afraid that it would decrease the tempo of work at their factories, which would influence the costs of their goods. Many people also did not want to have the government interreference in their lives. Nevertheless, the first supporters of such reforms were the mill owners, who were not indifferent to the people’s sufferings. An example of such an entrepreneur is Robert Owen, who owned a cotton mill in Scotland and built the village for his workers, having provided access to schools, doctors, and a house for each family (The National Archives n.d.). By the end of the 19th century, “industrialized nations like Great Britain and the United States began passing laws to improve conditions for factory workers” (National Geographic 2020, para. 16). There were a few significant acts, which had a huge impact on the situation.

The first document was accepted in 1802 and was titled Health and Morals of Apprentices Act (BBC n.d.). It was aimed at the protection of orphan apprentices, requiring better accommodation, a working day of no more than 12 hours, and access to education. However, the proposal was mostly ignored, because it was criticized for being relevant only to apprentices, and did not protect numerous children, working with their parents. Moreover, the act applied only to cotton factories and did not consider silk or wool enterprises. The next Factory Act was accepted in 1819 and was also targeted at children’s protection, demanding not to employ people under the age of nine (BBC n.d.). This law also could not be enforced, as there were no inspectors to investigate the violations. In 1833, the Factory Act, which could finally make changes, was accepted (BBC n.d.). It had the same demands for children, but this time there appeared inspectors to enforce the act, although, there were only four such specialists for the whole country. It had a consequence of parents and doctors lying about the children’s ages in order to avoid fines.

The number of inspectors was increased in the next recital of the Factory Act, which was accepted in 1878 and brought all the previous documents together (BBC n.d.). As a result of all the initiatives, by 1914, textile factory workers had serious improvements in their working hours and salaries (BBC n.d.). Young children were no longer allowed to be employed by enterprises. Moreover, the Workmen’s Compensation Act of 1897 introduced the idea of compensations for the workers’ injuries at a workplace for the first time in history (BBC n.d.). Thus, the accepted acts became the main vehicles for improvements in working conditions during the Industrial Revolution. This law regulated the mills, “in which wool, silk, cotton, and flax are spun or woven by means of water or steam-power, and embraces, therefore, the more important branches of English manufacture” (Engles 1887, 106). It helped workers, who began to organize unions, targeted at fighting for better working conditions, and involved the government, which commenced to control the work in factories, making it safer for the employees.

Conclusion

Today, people around the world see the benefits of industrialization, not being aware of its cost. In the second half of the 18^th century, Great Britain lived through a significant rise of the economy due to the appearance of numerous technologies and innovations, which allowed replacing handwork with machinery. This development had a serious impact on the life of people and created multiple job positions at factories, although, the working conditions there appeared to be hard and even dangerous. Most of the enterprise owners did not have the stimulus to provide their employees with better opportunities for fulfilling their duties, as there were no regulations and government control in the field.

During the Industrial Revolution, workers of factories had to face cruelty and danger, together with small salaries and huge fines. Employees, even women and children, had to work for a minimum of 12 hours in the conditions, damaging their health. They suffered from lung diseases, such as pneumonia, hearing, and sight problems due to the harmful conditions in the facilities. Moreover, there were numerous accidents due to the lack of safety precautions, as the moving parts of the equipment were not fenced off. Children, who were often sent to reach the places an adult could not fit, were afflicted by this fact the most, and the statistics of mortality of that period is disturbing. The improvements were finally made at the beginning of the 19^th century, when the Act limiting working hours, offering compensation for injuries at a workplace, and forbidding employing children under 14 years old was accepted.

References

BBC. n.d. “Industry — Textile Factories and Coal Mines.” BBC. 2020. Web.

Engels, Friedrich. 1887. Condition of the Working Class in England. New York: Penguin Classic. Web.

National Geographic. 2020. “Industrialization, Labor, and Life.” National Geographic, Web.

Moorhouse, Dan. 2020. “Working Conditions.” School History. Web.

The National Archives. n.d. “1833 Factory Act. Did it Solve the Problems of Children in Factories?” Web.

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