Industrial Revolution's Impact On The Family
The industrial revolution impacted the population, family life, and political environment of the 1800s heavily.
From the year 1800 to 1850, the population of England and Wales doubled, going from nine million people to eighteen million. The amount of that population who just lived in cities rose from ten percent of the population to fifty percent of the population. While the jump of the population cannot be associated just to industrialization - improvements in health care, sanitation and public health kept people alive longer, and a decrease in infant mortality had more people living past childhood - industrialization added to the impact. A series of new laws were passed which stated that all land was to be fenced in at the owner’s epense left many poor people who work in the countryside as farmers bankrupt and unemployed, and machices that were capable of producing huge amount of …show more content…
This relentless pursuit of money caused another important social change: the ultimate breakdown of the family unit. Since workers, especially women and children, were labouring for up to eighteen hours each day, there was very little family contact, and the only time that one was at home was spent sleeping. People also had to share housing with other families, which further contributed to the breakdown of the family unit. As a result, children received very little education, had stunted growth, and were sickly.However, the social changes that took place were not all negative. Most classes eventually benefited in some way from the huge profits that were being made, and by 1820 most workers were making somewhat better wages. The government, however, did have to eventually intervene in order to put an end to child labour and other unacceptable
From the year 1800 to 1850, the population of England and Wales doubled, going from nine million people to eighteen million. The amount of that population who just lived in cities rose from ten percent of the population to fifty percent of the population. While the jump of the population cannot be associated just to industrialization - improvements in health care, sanitation and public health kept people alive longer, and a decrease in infant mortality had more people living past childhood - industrialization added to the impact. A series of new laws were passed which stated that all land was to be fenced in at the owner’s epense left many poor people who work in the countryside as farmers bankrupt and unemployed, and machices that were capable of producing huge amount of …show more content…
This relentless pursuit of money caused another important social change: the ultimate breakdown of the family unit. Since workers, especially women and children, were labouring for up to eighteen hours each day, there was very little family contact, and the only time that one was at home was spent sleeping. People also had to share housing with other families, which further contributed to the breakdown of the family unit. As a result, children received very little education, had stunted growth, and were sickly.However, the social changes that took place were not all negative. Most classes eventually benefited in some way from the huge profits that were being made, and by 1820 most workers were making somewhat better wages. The government, however, did have to eventually intervene in order to put an end to child labour and other unacceptable