I need information on women conditions during the Industrial Revolution?

Chanda Wittwer: The Industrial Revolution in part was fueled by the economic necessity of many women, single and married, to find waged work outside their home. Women mostly found jobs in domestic service, textile factories, and piece work shops. They also worked in the coal mines. For some, the Industrial Revolution provided independent wages, mobility and a better standard of living. For the majority, however, factory work in the early years of the 19th century resulted in a life of hardship.Parliamentary commissions who began to investigate the industrial employment of women and children in the early 1840s. Inspectors visited mills, mines and shops taking evidence from workers to see ways in which the Industrial Revolution affected women and families. The sources, along with illustrations and a workforce chart, reveal the following points: Working conditions were often unsanitary and the work dangerous. Education suffered because of the demands of work. Home life suffe! red as women were faced with the double burden of factory work followed by domestic chores and child care. Men assumed supervisory roles over women and received higher wages. Unsupervised young women away from home generated societal fears over their fate. As a result of the need for wages in the growing cash economy, families became dependent on the wages of women and children There was some worker opposition to proposals that child and female labor should be abolished from certain jobs.Life for Women and Children during the Industrial Revolution was quite different to the way they can live today. At the start of the industrial Revolution there was no legislation about working conditions in mills, factories or othe industrial plants. They simply had not been needed before. As factories spread rapidly the owners of mills, mines and other forms of industry needed large numbers of workers and they didn't want to have to pay them a high wage. Children were the ideal employees ! therefore! They were cheap, weren't big enough or educated eno! ugh to argue or complain and were small enough to fit between tight fitting machinery that adults couldn't get between. Children soon ended up working in all types of industry.You may wonder why these children were not at school, this is simply because education in the early 19th century was not compulsory and in the majority of cases schools were expensive to send a child to, so working class families couldn't afford to send children there. Parents were quite willing to let children work in mills and factories as it provided the family with a higher income: one consequence of this was a high birth rate. Nowadays lots of children have Saturday jobs or part time work after school. these jobs are carefully controlled and the government has made laws saying how long children can work for, what types of job they can and cannot do and what the minimum age for working is. Women faced different demands during the industrial age to those that they face today. Women of the working c! lasses would usually be expected to go out to work, often in the mills or mines. As with the children and men the hours were long and conditions were hard. Those who were fortunate may have become maids for wealthier families, others may have worked as governesses for rich children. The less fortunate may have been forced to work in shocking conditions during the day and then have to return home to conduct the households domestic needs (Washing, Cooking and looking after children etc.) Women also faced the added burden of societies demand for children. The industrial age led to a rapid increase in birth rates which clearly has an impact upon the physical strength of the mothers. It was not uncommon for families to have more than 10 children as a result of this demand: and the woman would often have to work right up to and straight after the day of the childs birth for finanical reasons, leaving the care of the new born child to older relatives. Working today is usually quit! e safe. The government has made laws saying that employers have to look! after the workforce and provide safety equipment and other things for them. At the start of the Industrial Revolution none of these laws existed and so working in a factory could prove to be very dangerous indeed. This section looks at some of the conditions faced by workers and offers a brief explanation of what was done to improve these conditions. Industries such as the cotton trade were particularly hard for workers to endure long hours of labour. The nature of the work being done meant that the workplace had to be very hot, steam engines contributing further to the heat in this and other industries. Machinery was not always fenced off and workers would be exposed to the moving parts of the machines whilst they worked. Children were often employed to move between these dangerous machines as they were small enough to fit between tightly packed machinery. This led to them being placed in a great deal of danger and mortality (death rates) were quite high in factories. Add! ed to the dangers of the workplace also consider the impact of the hours worked. It was quite common for workers to work 12 hours or more a day, in the hot and physically exhausting work places. Exhaustion naturally leads to the worker becoming sluggish (slow), which again makes the workplace more dangerous. Not all factories were as bad as the scenario highlighted above. Robert owen and Titus salt for example were both regarded as good employers in this respect. They were amongst a group of people who were known as reformers. These people wanted changes to the way that factories were run. They faced opposition from other mill owners who knew that reforms would cost them money and give the workers more rights. (They wanted to make as much profit as possible remember, that is the purpose of manufacturing in a capitalist country).The reformers gradually managed to force changes to the way that workers were treated. Some of these reforms are listedbelow.Factory Act 1819 Limite! d the hours worked by children to a maximum of 12 per day. Factory Act ! 1833 Children under 9 banned from working in the textiles industry and 10-13 year olds limited to a 48 hour week. Factory Act 1844 Maximum of 12 hours work per day for Women. Factory Act 1847 Maximum of 10 hours work per day for Women and children. Factory Act 1850 Increased hours worked by Women and children to 10 and a half hours a day, but not allowed to work before 6am or after 6pm. 1874 No worker allowed to work more than 56.5 hours per week....Show more

Sheron Perrez: During that era everyone had it bad...even children who worked in sweat shops 12 to 14 hours a day .men and woman in industrial cities worked in factories or raised children.Large families was the norm but the mortality rate was high from disease and industrial accidents.in a way poor people were slaves to the rich and powerful.they offered no insurance,pension,health care ,or days off.Welfare never existed so many people suffered their entire life.

Booker Warlick: Read up on the history of t! he Progressive Party in the United States. President Teddy Roosevelt was a key player in many of the labor reforms in response to oppressive conditions of laborers. Google Triangle Shirtwaist Fire tragedy as one of the infamous incidents that galvanized the Progressives in the US.