Working Conditions In The 1800s

Improved Essays
This distinct class separation much reflected the living and working conditions of the people at the time. The poor rarely escaped the poverty trap as the long hours they worked among dangerous machinery and poorly ventilated factories played them very little at only £70 ($8330 aus)per year in comparison to the $15080 minimum yearly salary. There was no government welfare provided and women and children were taken from education to work in factories at a very young age. This low pay and harsh environment fostered their inability to afford satisfactory housing as the housing at that time was sold for much more than it was worth (similar to now) leading poorer working class families to only to be able to afford horrible, poorly ventilated and …show more content…
The working class was not able to afford professional doctors with the absence of welfare so life expectancy was as low as 54 years of age and this breeding of disease eventually led to the outbreak of the Bubonic Plague. In contrast to this, the upper class who had much better living conditions and income, lead longer lives as a result of adequate sanitation. Their selfishness and greed for wealth made them sacrifice working conditions at the expense of a higher profit. Working conditions and living conditions were fundamentally linked in the 1900s. Everything was interconnected, the better your living condition the better your working condition but your living conditions were dependent on your social status which was determined by your income, making all factors directly linked to each other and extremely difficult to escape. Education was the only key that was able to transform working class families into middle class families but like all things education required money and often money that working class families didn’t have. Education required families to sacrifice their basic needs for their children's future, naturally higher classes are able to give their offspring better education. The middle class girls all went to private schools sure they are taught domestic skills such as sewing, …show more content…
This need for a job provided an abundance of disposable workers that had no need for respect or human rights from the perspective of the wealthy employers. They could easily be replaced immediately for an even lower wage because of the immense need for income and rising unemployment rates that spiked 10% between 1900 and 1910. Women’s roles in the working and middle classes were transformed, the previous societal norms of a domestic housewife were disposed of. Lower class women worked factory jobs that were just as labour intensive as the men whilst middle class women often had secretarial jobs due to the invention of the typewriter. Children’s roles, in the lower classes, were changed from preparing for their own future to making sure the family could survive with the money they had. Due to the expenses of housing, children sacrificed education for

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Antanas Kaztauskis was an immigrant from Lithuania who came over to America during the time of the industrial revolution. His time in America gives us just a small glimpse of how arduous life was at the time for the poor, unskilled worker, especially as an immigrant. He chronicles how upon his arrival, he had to search for jobs, and the search was a brutal one, with nearly 200 in line to get a job, all of them “tired and hungry”(Kaztauskis DH,pg.5). Over the course of the industrial revolution, many people struggled to go out and find jobs whilst struggling to have enough food to eat. And after they finally got jobs, life wasn’t at all ideal.…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The working class worked hard. Most employers were women, they were easier to maintain and being paid half what men earned. Document 9, shows a vivid image of the workers in an Industrial factory. Almost all pictured there are women.…

    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The United States has made a great amount of progression over time. This is shown in a time period full of major developments known as the industrial revolution. However there are many changes that negatively affected our society during the industrial revolution. During the industrial revolution working conditions were poor, living conditions were crowded, and children had little to no time to get a quality education. Though the country economically flourished at this time, the people suffered.…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    During the progressive era working conditions improved due to reformers. One major improvement was reasonable working hours. One major court case having to do with working hours was Muller v. Oregon which was a case taken to the Supreme Court in 1908, and it restricted women laundry workers to a maximum of ten hours a day. After a deadly fire broke out in 1911 killing almost one hundred and fifty people, factory inspections were applied and health and safety conditions all around improved in factories. Child labor was demolished in 1914 when almost all states had child labor laws setting a minimum age for how old one has to be to work.…

    • 112 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The poor treatment of working laborers during the gilded age is connected to rise in industrialization because they were unknowingly swindled into to working long hours with low pay. They would work in horrible conditions in which if they made a mistake they could end up dead or they might get injured in which case they would be replaced with someone who has been waiting for the job. The injured people would not get compensation for the injury that they sustained while on the job and the dead person's’ family would not get any compensation either. The immigrants were mashed into tenements, shoddy houses, and crowded apartments to live in.…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 1894, American workers were acknowledged for their contributions and achievements by receiving a holiday recognized on the first Monday of September, called Labor Day. Along with this holiday, it is a symbolization of the end of summer for many and is celebrated with different celebrations such as parties and parades. In the late 1800s, the average American workers just to have a roof over their family’s heads worked 12 hours a day and 7 days a week. During Labor Day, American workers are able to have a day of rest and get to spend time with family. Labor Day is actually represents the struggle and hardships for Americans at the time, but most or none probably don’t look at it as that.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    From the 1860s to 1890s, as job numbers increased so did the number of people searching for them. Immigrants poured into America, and Americans poured into cities, all searching for work. The rise of unions began when both groups found the working conditions abhorrent, and consequently, they took a stand. The industrial workers formed different labor unions to unite to make a…

    • 63 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the most troubling times in Europe’s history occurred during the mid-eighteenth to mid-nineteenth century. This was when men, women, and children had to succumb to the terrible living and working conditions of the early Industrial Revolution. During this time period many families suffered from health, financial, and vast array of more problems. While the families struggled to make ends meet by sending their women and children out to work in the cruel factories there were few people who supported these individuals, who classically would not be working, making meager wages and increasing the amount of laborers available. Out to defend the working class were the Chartists who made a goal to improve working conditions in England.…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    With industrialization, factories had a clear line of authority between the workers and the managers. Above the managers were the owners who reaped all the money produced by the factory at the cost of meager wages for the workers. Disparity in incomes led to a development of an upper, middle, and lower class. In the pre-industrial agricultural society, the upper class was not as defined and whether a middle class existed or not is disputable. Immigrants were primarily sought out as workers since they were easier to manipulate in terms of payment and since more children and women became hired, less money had to be paid to the workers in general.…

    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Since the industrial revolution began industrial workers have greatly important to the survival of America’s economy. The lives of the American industrial workers have always been hard, but between 1865 and 1900 they lives were made both easier and harder due to the impact of technological changes, immigration, and labor unions. The American industrial workers were impacted between 1865 and 1900 by technological changes. Technology made doing certain jobs easier and faster to accomplish so more could be made in less time. Due to the creation of electricity and lamps work could be done at all hours.…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The working class during the nineteenth century redeveloped the idea of there past time. These men wanted to something new and entertaining to due after they got done with a hard day at work. They began frequenting cafés and pubs more, causing a rise in drinking. On their hunt for recreation and good time, men found pleasure in sports and music. It’s interesting how just everyday working men played a huge role in the urbanization of a city.…

    • 191 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Work Today Or In The 1900s

    • 1297 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Work is something that we all have to do, whether it is today or in the 1900s. Working is how people get their money. Money is how people get food and shelter. Without a job there is no food and shelter. Without food and shelter there is no life.…

    • 1297 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    During the 1870’s all women were considered unequal to men. The Knights of Labor, a secret union organization, worked hard to organize women into unions across the nation to stop further discrimination in terms of hiring and pay; women were expected to work more hours for less pay (24). In 1887, Edward O’ Donnell wrote an article, Women as Bread Winners- The Error of the Age which denounced women working in factories. O’ Donnell wrote, “It debars the man through financial embarrassment from family responsibility, and physically, mentally and socially excludes the woman equally from nature’s dearest impulse” (28).…

    • 1326 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Unlike, Jean Anyon 's study, “From Social Class and The Hidden Curriculum Work”, Rose did not discuss how social class can influence students to reach their full potential. People who have the most money tend to give their children the best education they possible can. The best education allows for progressive thinking and strategy making and gives the child more opportunity to progress faster. This education is used to create future CEOs and other high level management positions; However people who can’t afford such an education send their children to different lower class schools, that are classified by the social status of that area, such as the working class schools. The working class school is where students of current low wage workers are sent to learn low class skills and taught how to be obedient to those above them.…

    • 1311 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In many ways, my grandfather had fewer occupational and educational opportunities than his predecessors. This was partially because of his family’s economic situation. His family’s social and economic positions might be explained by conflict theory or the Labour theories of Karl Marx. Marx viewed labour as a commodity that was always sold at a rate below its value. (Smith P. , 2013).…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays