During the Industrial Revolution in the 18th-19th centuries, workers faced extremely difficult living and working conditions. They worked long hours in unsafe factories for low wages. Children as young as 5 years old worked alongside adults. Workers lived in crowded, unsanitary housing where disease spread rapidly. While laws were passed to improve conditions, child labor remains an issue today with over 200 million children working under exploitative conditions, especially in developing nations where poverty is a driving factor.
1. LIVING AND WORKING CONDITIONS DURING
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
BY: BEA ESCALANTE
2. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century and
lasted until the mid 19th century.
Before this time, every product was made by hand.
3. BEFORE THE INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION
At this time, people produced their own food,
clothes, tools, etc Production was very
inefficient
The working man was lucky to own two shirts.
4. 1760
The Industrial Revolution began in the year 1760 when the
textile industry was transformed by the invention of
machines.
Production became efficient and cost-effective.
5. DURING THE INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION
A lot more than just the textile industry changed. For
example, agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing
in general were transformed.
6. INCREASING URBANIZATION
As factories grew, more workers were needed for
production.
As jobs were created, more and more people left their
rural farms and moved to the city to work in the
factories.
7. WORKERS
Since the work was abundant, these factories
employed men, women and children of all ages.
8. WORKING CONDITIONS
Workers were expected to work 16 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week.
Wages were very low: less than a pound for men, 10 shillings for women,
and 3 shillings for children.
This is equivalent to: 320 Euros per year, or 0,08 cents per day.
9. WORKING CONDITIONS
On any given day, there could be more than 500 workers in a
factory so the environment was hot, noisy, full of steam, fumes
and dust.
Sanitary conditions were also terrible. There was no clean water
and toilets were often a hole in the ground.
Work-related accidents were common and the workers received
no compensation.
Triangle Shirt Factory fire killed
114 workers.
10. CHILD LABOR
During the Industrial Revolution children constituted 2/3 of the
working force in England and Scotland.
They were expected to work as long as adults
They were paid significantly less than adults
They performed dangerous jobs such as climbing the
machines to unblock them or going into narrow spaces to
collect coal.
CHEAP LABOR
11. CHILD LABOR
Children worked in extremely unsanitary
conditions
They were often beaten by other workers.
12. FACTORY ACT
Although the factories claimed that they were providing jobs for
the poor, eventually the government intervened and passed the
Factory Act in 1844.
This law established that children had to be 9 years or older to
work and they could only work 12 hours a day.
13. LIVING CONDITIONS FOR
WORKERS
As a result from the fumes and dust that workers often
inhaled for many hours a day, chest illnesses were
common.
Houses and apartments were not properly conditioned
to be lived in and they were also very expensive.
14. LIVING CONDITIONS FOR
WORKERS
There was no proper sewage systems in either the working places or the
living spaces so diseases like cholera, typhoid, and tuberculosis rapidly
spread.
During the 19th century, 10.000 people died from cholera and 60.000
died from tuberculosis.
The life expectancy dropped drastically
In London people were expected to live only 37 years.
Twenty five percent of children died before they were five years old.
15. TODAY
The International Labor Organization estimates that 215 million
children between the ages of 5 and 17 are working under
conditions that are considered illegal, hazardous, or extremely
exploitative.
16. DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Of the estimated 215 child laborers around the globe:
approximately 114 million (53%) are in Asia and the Pacific; 14
million (7%) live in Latin America; and 65 million (30%) live in
sub-Saharan Africa.
Agriculture, manufacturing, mining, domestic
service, etc.
17. WHAT CAUSES CHILD LABOR?
Poverty
Free education is limited
Existing laws are violated
18. HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL
RISK FACTORS
Greater risk of hearing loss
Smaller size
Development of organs and tissues
Lower heat tolerance
Higher chemical absorption rates
19. Think about the Industrial Revolution
and the world today.
Why do we still have
child labor?