Working conditions and legislation during the Industrial Revolution

As the Industrial Revolution progressed, factories and coal mines became major employ-
ers. Working conditions in these industrialised places could be poor, and employees were
forced to work long hours in hazardous environments, for little overall pay. A typical wage
for male workers was about 15 shillings (75p) a week, but women and children were paid
much less, with women earning 7 shillings (35p) and children 3 shillings (15p). For this
reason, employers preferred to employ women and children. Many men were sacked when
they reached adulthood and then had to be supported by their wives and children.

Women & children in the workforce

In the 1800s, it became common to employ women and children to work in factories. Be-
fore the Industrial Revolution, all but the wealthiest women worked. However, this work
was normally in the home or the fields, and often took place alongside the rest of the fam-
ily. As factories spread across northern England, many offered job opportunities to wo-
men, particularly textile factories. In these areas, young women could earn a wage, which
gave them more independence than previous generations experienced. It could be difficult
to combine working in a factory with caring for young children; some women would leave

young children in the

A colourised engraving from 1871
showing child labourers being paid
for their work in a brick factory.
care of female relat-
ives or take them to
work with them.

Children were cheap

to employ and their small hands were able to effectively operate and clean the machinery.
However, the conditions in the factories were very dangerous. Working days were long,
and children often had to work 12-14-hour shifts, six days a week. There was little to no
safety equipment, so children could be seriously injured or killed by the fast-moving ma-
chinery. If children were tired and started to work slowly, there were strict punishments.
Children were often beaten, doused in cold water to keep them awake, or even had their
ears nailed to a piece of wood.

Improvements to factory work

Over time, individual factory owners started to make improvements. For instance, Robert
Owen owned a cotton factory in New Lanark. He introduced an eight-hour working day for
his workers and provided a free education for all employees.

Eventually, campaigners pushed Parliament to bring in laws to improve the working condi-
tions and protect workers, and factory owners had no choice but to make changes to the
way they treated their workers. The following were some of these key changes in the law:

 1819 Cotton Mills and Factories Act: This banned factories from employing chil-
dren under 9 years of age and set a maximum of 12 hours work a day for 9-to-16-year-
olds.

 1833 Factory commission: This was an investigation into the conditions workers
faced, which was headed by Michael Sadler and also known as the Sadler Report. It
found there were some good examples of workers being well looked after, but they
heard many accounts of horrific treatment. Many workers faced physical deformities
due to the nature of their work, risked disease and received poor education. This com-
mission led to another Factory Act in 1833.

 1833 Factory Act: This banned children of any age working before 5:30am or after
8:30pm, introduced an hour-long lunch break, made education a right for all children
and introduced a factory inspection system to check that the conditions were being im-

proved. In
English politician and social re- addition,
former, Lord Shaftesbury, visiting a
children
coal mine and seeing child labour,
between the
1840s.
ages of 9
and 13 had their working time limited to 9 hours a day.

 In 1838, a terrible flooding disaster at a coal mine in South Yorkshire led to the deaths
of 26 children who had been working underground at the Huskar Colliery. News of the
deaths shocked the nations and Queen Victoria ordered an inquest into what had
happened. The end result was a new set of legislation aimed at improving working con-
ditions in mines. In 1842 the Mines and Collieries Act was passed. The act stated
that no women were allowed to be employed to work underground; no child under 10
was allowed to work underground; and more inspections of conditions underground
were needed.

 1844 Factory Act: This brought improvements to factory safety. Dangerous ma-
chinery had to be made fenced off, with safety guards and protection in place. Mill ma-
 chinery had to be stopped before children were made to clean it.

 1878 Factory Act: This added new laws regarding working conditions. Factories had
to be kept clean and properly ventilated. Accidents had to be reported and investigated.
Children under the age of 10 could no longer be employed. Children aged between 10
and 14 could only work half days in textile factories. Women were to work no more than
56 hours per week. Lunch breaks of at least one and a half hours had to be given. Fi -
nally, work on Sundays was banned (except in some cases for Jewish employers and
workers).

 1901 Factory Act: This banned factories employing children under 12 years of age
and made further rules around safety equipment. For example, all factories required
fire exits.