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A. Introduction The Industrial Revolution was the mechanization of the European economy that began during the second half of the eighteenth century1. During the Industrial Revolution, cotton industry was booming. Many factories were hiring men, women, as well as children. There were many advances in machinery like the spinning jenny and the power loom. These advances benefitted some of the unemployed. Since these machines required people to operate them, the unemployed were hired for this job. The demand for the work force led to factories hiring children. Families were force to send their children to work so they can contribute their salaries to the familys expenses. Child labor progressed and became a major contribution to the wage economy. The Industrial Revolution had a big impact of family life. Women, unmarried or widows, were to find a job to provide for themselves. Men who were married, provided for their families and men unmarried provided for themselves. Children were often sent to school. Slowly the industrial revolution shifted the idea of family economy to more of a wage economy. The wage economy itself varied from the separate spheres of influence based on gender. If a man and woman were to go to work for the same amount of time, doing the same task, the male would get paid more. This is why women had to work longer shifts, as well as working multiple jobs. The idea of family economy went through a major change due to these occurrences. B. Inventions As the Industrial Revolution unfolded, there was a plethora innovation that allowed an increase in production. Many inventions were created during the Industrial Revolution such as machines that produced clothing. One of those inventions was the
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Albert M. Craig, the Heritage of World Civilizations (New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2005), 469.

spinning jenny. This machine was invented in England to mass-produce thread2. The spinning jenny was a big help due to the demand for cotton textiles growing more rapidly. This machine was used in clothing factories, which employed by both men and women. These factories would produce many garments and gave jobs to large amount of people. Another machine that increased the production of clothing was the water frame. This machine took the cotton textile manufacture from home to the factory. Richard Arkwright was the inventor of the water frame3. The machine was a water-powered device that produced more durable cotton fabric. This invention led to the shift in the production of cotton textiles from households to factories. The water frame changes the dynamic of the location of garment production and those who operated the machine. An additional machine created was the power loom. It was a machine that was driven by steam, which sped up the process of production enormously4. Female weavers used the power loom in a textile factory, usually with a male supervisor that oversaw the work of the women. This changed the family dynamic, because families were benefitted by it since clothing was cheaper, as well as the amount of jobs being available. Apart from clothing machines, there were also many other factory machines. One of those machines was the steam engine. This machine provided for the first time in human history an unlimited source of inanimate power. The steam engine was driven

2 3

Ibid. M. E. Beggs Humphreys, the Industrial Revolution (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1976), 18. 4 Neil Morris, The Industrial revolution (Italy: McRae Books, 2009), 12.

by burning coal.5 .The Industrial Revolution could not have developed without coal and iron. Coal provided the power to drive the steam engines and was needed to make iron6. Iron was used to improve machines, tools and to build bridges and ships. As the revolution progressed, there were fewer artisans and highly skilled workers. Those artisans and workers were driven out by factories. The high skill of artesian was not needed anymore with the introduction of machine in factories. Most links between factory or day-labor employment and home life dissolved. Many people of the working class were unemployed. The advances in technology resulted in a shift from family economy to a wage economy. Factories were offering more and more jobs and business began to boom. C. Child Labor As factories with new machines and innovations increase the demand for unskilled laborers increased as well. Child labor reached extremes during the Industrial Revolution. Children were helpful because of their size. Their small hands and fingers were able to squeeze into small crevices of various machines in the factory. Many families struggled to provide for themselves and were forced to send their children to work. Some of the children were as young as 5 years old. Children who were sent to work were not able to attend school. There were many jobs offered for children. Employers took in many children because they did not have to pay them as much as adult workers. Textile mills often hired young girls to work as spinners whose jobs involved mending the breaks in the cotton7. Young boys were often told to push coal

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Craig, 471. Worldbook (Chicago: Worldbook Inc., 2006), 249. 7 Peter N. Stearns and John H. Hinshaw, The Industrial Revolution (California: The ABC-CLIO world history companion, 1996), 41.

through coalmines8, where conditions were not ideal. Workdays often lasted 10-12 hours for very little pay. Children were given the job of clean machinery. In certain cases they had to remove fluff from under power looms. These machines were still running while children were cleaning them9, this made it very dangerous for the young workers. Children were given such tasks because of their size; adults simply could not fit into the places where the children had to work. Children also had to work away from their family members and with complete strangers. It was very strange for children to be working away from their family. There were many accidents involving children as well because of the working conditions. For example, children would get their hand suck in a machine and have their finger severed. Another example would be getting your foot stuck in a machine and poor lungs, if the child worked in a coal mine. Later educational reformers believed that primary school education was necessary. It began to spread because of belief in the economic utility of basic education and of course because over time child labor began less useful10. Soon the amount of hours the children had to work has lowered and they were sent back to school, if they were under 12 years of age. By the 1870s, the Elementary Education Act set up school boards and most Western countries required primary education. Schools not only taught literacy and arithmetic skills but discipline11. Schools also tried to teach loyalty to the nation and existing economy12. Although schools were now open for children, at first board schools cost parents a few pence each week, encouraging many to keep
8 Charlie Samuels, Timeline of the Industrial Revolution (New York: Gareth Stevens, 2010), 23. 9 Morris, 40. 10 Sterns and Hinshaw, 76. 11 Ibid, 76. 12 Ibid.

their children at work13. Soon these fees were abolished in 1891. Eventually, children no longer worked in factories and their families did not have to pay the fees. D. Womens Role The Industrial revolution often reduced the value of womens work14 even though many women were a vital contribution to the labor and work force. The Industrial Revolution began with the textile production and women were a part of it from the start. Some of the branches of manufacturing that were dominated by women were spinning or food production15.Most women went to work and had a job, although marriage became more important for women. Married working-class women worked only occasionally, but had much to take care of at home. The duties of women at home included housekeeping, food preparation, child rearing and nurturing, and household management. Unemployed women in the working-class struggled the most. They had little money and usually not enough food. They also had poor housing. Women that were desperate for money would turn to prostitution. Because of the shift from family to wage economy, having a job was very important, it was hard to get by without one and usually hard to find one. Since earning money became more difficult, women turned to prostitution. It was a way for poor women to earn money16. Prostitution was generally subject to governmental and municipal regulations17. Usually prostitutes were active for only a

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Morris, 42. Stearns and Hinshaw, 277. 15 Ibid. 16 Craig, 579. 17 Ibid.

few years, starting from their teens to the age of 2518. These women were primarily unmarried or widows. Women in the middle-class rarely held jobs19. Women did gain new family functions and moral authority during the industrial revolution20. Magazines and books directed toward women began to praise motherhood, domesticity, religion, and charity as the proper work for a woman in accordance with concept of separate spheres21. Women were heavily involved in charity work. Majority of women did not work; they spent their free time volunteering their time to help charities. European women faced social and legal disabilities in the property rights, family law, and education. In 1882, Great Britain allowed married women to own property in their own right. In France, a married woman could not even open a savings account in her own name until 1895 and not until 1907 were married women granted possession of their own wages22. In 1900, Germany allowed women to take jobs without their husbands permission, but a German husband retained control of most of his wifes property except for her wages. With family law, after a divorce a husband could take children away from their mother and give them away to someone else or keep them.

Women faced an educational barrier. Women had less access to education than men23. Most women were educated only enough for the domestic careers. University and

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Ibid, 580. Ibid. 20 Ibid. 21 Craig, 580. 22 Craig, 575. 23 Ibid.

professional education remained reserved for men24. School teaching at the elementary level became a professional haven for women. Most women became elementary school teachers, because they were looked upon as motherly figures.

For the women who were married, lived a less stressful life. The roles of a wife were not complicated. They became the product of a particular understanding of social life. When a woman got married, children would often follow. This was a reason factory owners did not hire married women. Middle-class women were largely in charge of the household, oversaw virtually all domestic management and childcare. Apart from the household roles, women also had a less valued role in the wage economy. For example, women were paid less than men. Therefore they had no choice but to work longer or multiple jobs. Children did play a role in the wage economy but a smaller one. Children worked in factories. Men, just for being men, were paid more as well as being superior and looked upon as the leaders. Women had many important roles in the household rather than a factory, and men had more control and a lot more to do and in a factory than in a household. E. Conclusion The industrial revolution impacted many things, including the family economy. Its impact to the family economy was significant because it created a shift from family based economy to more of a wage-based economy. One of the obvious impacts was the inventions. They were a big technological advantage and offered more jobs. With the Industrial Revolution also came child labor. This effected a large amount of the child population. Child labor forced children to give up school and work in factories
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Ibid.

for long periods of time. Lastly, women were a big contribution to the industrial revolution. They contributed to the wage economy, were a big part of the household and faced unfair rules such as the educational barriers. These aspects directly tie into the wage-based economy. This economy affected every member of a household and even those who were not part of a household. Roles in a house hold changes as well as the expectations for all the members. The Industrial revolution caused drastic changes to a household and its members.