13.2.3 Social studies, Harsh Conditions in Factories and Mines

What where the living conditions of miners?

Although miners were paid more than factory workers, conditions in the mines were even harsher than in the factories. Miners worked in darkness, and the coal dust destroyed their lungs. There were always the dangers of explosions, flooding, and collapsing tunnels. Women and children worked in mines, carting heavy loads of coal. Children were frequently hired to work in mines because they could climb through narrow shafts. Many spent their days on all fours or carried heavy baskets of coal up flimsy ladders.

How did woman effect the work forces?

At first, women made up much of the new industrial work force. Employers often preferred to hire women workers. They thought women could adapt more easily to machines and were easier to manage than men. More important, they were able to pay women less than men, even for the same work. Factory work created a double burden for women. Their new jobs took them out of their homes for 12 hours or more a day. They then returned to their tenements, which might consist of one damp room with a single bed. They had to feed and clothe their families, clean, and cope with such problems as sickness and injury.

What was the living condition of children in all professions?

Children had always worked on rural farms or as servants and apprentices. However, child labor took on new dimensions during the Industrial Revolution. Since children had helped with farm work, parents accepted the idea of child labor. The wages children earned were needed to keep their families from starving.Factories and mines hired many boys and girls. These children often started working at age seven or eight, a few as young as five. Nimble-fingered and quick-moving, they changed spools in the hot and humid textile mills where sometimes they could not see because of all the dust. They also crawled under machinery to repair broken threads in the mills. Conditions were even worse for children who worked in the mines. Some sat all day in the dark, opening and closing air vents. Others hauled coal carts in the extreme heat.

What laws where put into place to protect the working children?

In the early 1800s, Parliament passed a series of laws, called "factory acts," to reform child labor practices. These early efforts. Then, in 1833, Michael Sadler headed up a committee to look into the conditions of child workers in the textile industry. The Sadler Report contained firsthand accounts of child labor practices and helped bring the harsh labor conditions to light. As a result, Parliament passed new regulations to ease working conditions for children. An 1833 law forbade the hiring of children under the age of nine and limited the working hours of older children in the textile industry. Over time, Parliament passed other laws to improve working conditions in both factories and mines and to limit the work day of both adults and children to 10 hours. It also enacted laws to require the education of children and to stop the hiring of children and women in mines.

What was life like for rural workers?

People worked long hours for low wages, but their work varied according to the season. Life was also hard for poor rural workers who were part of the putting-out system. If they worked too slowly, they did not earn enough, but at least they worked at their own pace. In the factories of industrial towns, workers faced a rigid schedule set by the factory whistle.

What was life like for factory workers

Working hours in early factories were long, with shifts lasting from 12 to 16 hours, six or seven days a week. A factory whistle announced time to eat a hasty meal, then quickly sent them back to the machines. Exhausted workers suffered accidents from machines that had no safety devices. They might lose a finger, a limb, or even their lives.

What was one of the hazards of textile mills?

workers constantly breathed air filled with lint, which damaged their lungs. Those workers who became sick or injured lost their jobs.