Child Labour And Social Problems During The Industrial Revolution

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During the Industrial Revolution (During a period between the 18th and 19th century which created major technological advances were created) in Britain a number of social problems arose. Two of the major issues were the state of working conditions for lower paid workers including child labour and the lack of general sanitation practises and infrastructure. Despite the early social problems of working conditions and sanitation created by the Industrial Revolution the long term social reforms including the Factory Act in 1833 and the Public Health Act in 1848 outweigh the short term issues encountered.

The use of child labour was common in the 18th and 19th century but in the years of the Industrial Revolution exploitation particularly of children was rampant. Children were exploited due to their lack of knowledge and small bodies. Mostly children were aged between 6-15 years old and worked to supplement their family income. This practise was carried out mostly in the UK but it was commonplace in other countries as well. In addition, the sanitary measures that we have today were non-existent. Countless people died every day because of diseases and unchecked infections.

During the Industrial Revolution, working conditions for children and adults alike were appalling, worked long hours for very little pay was the norm. For example, two boys worked on pushing a cart up and down a tunnel filled with coal for up to 19 hours and don’t see the light of day. Also in textile factories there were many machines with exposed parts run by unskilled labourers which led to many accidents. Poor working conditions including child labour has been in use for many centuries but in the industrial revolution the work conditions were particularly po...

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... town had to supply clean drinking water as well as improved sewage and drainage systems. These short term social problems of sanitation and working conditions resulted in long term social reforms of the Factory Act and The Public Health Act.

The introduction of these long term reforms overcame the short term problem encountered. The use of child labour from very young ages had allowed employers to gain very cheap labour but with the Factory Act this exploitation was no longer legal. Also the basic needs of sanitation were not met until the Public Health Act was implemented and addressed these needs. These reforms led to further improvement over the years that resulted in the working conditions we have today. To conclude the short term issue encountered were vastly outweighed by the reforms they caused giving the general public safer and cleaner working conditions.

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