How Did The Industrial Revolution Affect Work Life

Peter Stearns claims that the industrial revolution was an intensely human experience. What initially arose as scientific advancements in metallurgy and machine building, the industrial revolution period saw a redefinition of life as a whole. As industry changed, human life began to adapt. Work life was drastically changed which, in turn, resulted in family life being affected. As is human nature, major change was met with great resistant. Ultimately, the most successful people during the transition were those that adapted quickly.
The industrial revolution is often mistakenly thought of simply as a time period when science was becoming more organized and resulted in the production of new machinery. The Industrial revolution was a period
Education was seen as more important than making a contribution economically. By the 1830s, compulsory education was first starting to appear.
A redefinition of childhood had a big impact on the family. Fathers and their children were separated by the long work days. Parents had to reconsider how many children to have. The cost of raising children and supporting them through school has increased thus many families saw it fit to have less children solely as an economic choice. Birthrates decreased as did the average family size.
The industrial revolution also spurred change in government policy. “All Western governments began to participate in new activities relating to railroad expansion, industrial tariff policies, and sponsorship of technical expositions.” Governments provided more public schooling along with technical schools to enhance the skills of experts. Child labor laws were yet another government product of the time
The burgeoning middle class threatened the prestige of the aristocratic society. The aristocrats, who assumed their power by landownership, now saw the multiplication of factories undercut its economic base. However, many individual aristocrats participated in efforts to regulate the harsh working conditions of the industrial period. The main source of conflict was between middle-class and working-class people. The middle-class who supervised the working-class was more interested in productivity and profits while the working-class called for more humane conditions.
Protest marked the industrial revolution. Poor working conditions and low wages resulted in the first strikes, or refusals to work. Strike movements eventually turned into calls for larger organizational movements. The first labor unions were formed. The unions were established in an effort to return some power back to the