The labour of women and children in the Industrial Revolution

SUGAR & COAL

The Industrial Revolution began in England in 1760, and continued until 1850. Huge changes

occurred in manufacturing, agriculture and transport. England’s social structure changed

dramatically, as people moved from small towns and villages to the bigger cities to find work.

With advances in technology came an increase in the availability of raw materials such as coal and

sugar. These two commodities became the fuels of the age; coal to fuel the machines, and sugar to

fuel the workers.

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Factory owners needed cheap, unskilled labour, so they profited greatly by using

children and women to run the machines. By the age of six, many children were

already working 14 hour days in factories. These children had no free time and

earned low wages. Many got sick and died because of the toxic fumes; others were severely injured and sometimes killed.

WOMEN AND CHILDREN

Working conditions were very bad:"We went to the mill at five in the morning. We worked

until dinnertime and then to nine or ten at night; on Saturday it could be till eleven and often till twelve at

night. We were sent to clean the machinery on the Sunday."

A report commissioned by the House of Commons in 1832 said that: the workers were 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."

WORKING CONDITIONS

Lewis Wickes Hine (1874 -1940) was an American sociologist and photographer. Hine used his camera as a

tool for social reform. His photographs were instrumental in changing the child labour laws in the United States, and later, England. His wife Sara often accompanied him as a witness when he interviewed children and their parents

about their work.

LEWIS HINE

Largely due to Hines’ and other social reformers efforts, laws were enacted to protect the employees, (not always successfully): 

1844 Factory Act:Minimum age for working in factories reduced to 8 years old.

8 to 13 years old to work a maximum of six and a half hours on weekdays and only six hours on Saturday

13 to 18 year olds to work a maximum of 12 hours a day and the same applied to women.

Safety guards had to be fitted to all machines.Three hours education a day to be provided for children.

 1847 Fielder's Factory Act:

10 hour day introduced for under 18's and for women.There were factory inspectors to 'enforce' these laws but they were so poorly paid, they were easily bribed. Also many working parents were desperate for

money and they lied about the ages of their children to get them work in factories and mines. So the laws may have been good in theory, they were very

difficult to enforce.

CHANGES TO LABOUR LAWS