Hardships of Industrial Life

Industrial Cities Urbanization- the movement of people to cities The poor lived in tiny rooms in tenements (multistory buildings divided into crowded apartments) Tenements had no running water or sanitation systems

Factories Shifts lasted 12 to 16 hours If they were sick or injured, they lost their jobs Employers preferred to hire women more than men Able to pay them less Family life was difficult for women Factories hired many children Wages from children helped prevent families from starving Employers often hired orphans

The New Middle Class Those who benefitted from the industrial revolution were entrepreneurs (middle class) Middle-class lives in well-furnished homes Middle-class women did not have to work Middle-class people valued hard-work and had little sympathy for the poor

Benefits and Problems Industrial age brought many hardships Reformers pressed for laws to improve working conditions Workers’ organizations called labor unions won the right to bargain with employers for better wages, hours, and working conditions Eventually, working class men gained the right to vote, which gave them political power Social problems- low pay, unemployment, dismal living conditions Material benefits: demand for goods increased making new factories open which created new jobs Wages rose so workers had enough left after paying rent and buying food to buy a newspaper or visit a music hall As the cost of railroad travel fell, people could visit family in other towns.