Factory & Social Reforms (AQA GCSE History)

 Summary

From around 1750 onwards, cities and towns such as Birmingham, Manchester and Sheffield grew rapidly as a result of the Industrial Revolution. The living conditions in these cities were appalling. Many people lived in overcrowded slums with no access to clean water. 

The factories and mines where people worked were dirty and deadly dangerous places that employed children from the age of six. The terrible living and working conditions suffered by millions in Britain led people to campaign to improve workers' lives. These campaigns resulted in several new acts of Parliament. For some, the new laws went too far and prevented struggling families from earning enough money. For others, they didn’t go far enough and still left many vulnerable people living terrible lives.

Living & Working Conditions in the Industrial Revolution

• Employment of children in factories was widespread in the 18^th century

• Reports highlighting horrific deaths and injuries of children in these factories shocked the public

• The reports led an MP called Michael Sadler to call for laws that limited how long children could work

  • His call for a 10-hour working day for the under-18s became known as the 10-hour movement

• Lord Shaftesbury, a devout Christian, became a prominent supporter of the 10-hour movement 

  • He campaigned for the reform of working conditions in all factories and mines

• Robert Owen, who ran factories in Manchester and Glasgow, had shown that workers could be well treated and money could still be made

  • He opened a school and provided social facilities for his workers

  • He became famous for arguing that workers should have ‘Eight hours labour, eight hours recreation and eight hours rest’ a day

Key Social Reformers

• Living conditions in the new industrial cities caused great concern

• Edwin Chadwick stated that life in industrial towns made sickness inevitable

  • Chadwick argued that if people were sick, they were unable to work and therefore could not pay rent or buy food

  • The Poor Law meant they would then end up in the workhouse

  • Chadwick’s report on ‘The Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population’ concluded that poverty was caused by a lack of access to clean water, not laziness

• Elizabeth Fry was a Quaker who led calls for the reform of prisons

  • Fry brought the appalling conditions suffered by many imprisoned women and children to the public’s attention

  • This led to the issue of prison conditions being raised in Parliament and prison conditions being improved

• Josephine Butler was a devout Christian 

  • Butler was appalled by how many women had been forced to turn to prostitution in the new industrial cities and by how society treated sex workers

  • Many people in society believed that sex workers were unworthy of help but Butler blamed the men who used them

  • Amongst other things, Butler campaigned for the age of consent to be raised from 13 to 16

The Factory Act, 1833

• The work of Michael Sadler, Lord Shaftesbury and others led to the Factory Act of 1833 being passed by Parliament

• The Factory Act of 1833 stated that:

  • Children under the age of nine are forbidden to work in factories

  • Those aged between nine and 13 are limited to working nine hours a day and 48 hours a week

  • Under 13s have to attend school for two hours a day

  • Those aged between 13 and 18 are limited to working 69 hours a week

  •  Inspectors are to be appointed to ensure factory owners do not break these laws

Mines Act, 1842

• Conditions in Britain’s many mines also caused people to call for reform

  • Whole families often worked underground for up to 12 hours a day

  • The 1842 Mines Act outlawed:

    • Children aged under 10 and women working underground

    • Children under 15 operating winding machines (that dragged heavy loads to the surface)

Impacts of Factory & Social Reforms

• For many people, the Factory Act and Mines Act did not go far enough. They wanted:

  • All children to be banned from working in factories and mines

  • The laws to apply to all industries (the current rules did not apply to workers in the silk industry)

• For others, including many workers, the reforms went too far because:

  • The laws limited the amount of hours people worked and reduced how much they could earn

  • Many families relied on the wages of their small children and feared they would now be sent to the workhouse

  • Some factory owners argued they would be unable to make a profit without child labour and would be forced to close

• Other opponents believed the government had no right to interfere in how industry made money

• Opposition did not prevent further reform in the 19^th century

  • The Ten Hours Act of 1847 meant all children in the textile industry were limited to working 10 hours a day

  • The Ten Hours Act was extended to all industries in 1867

  • The Factories and Workshops Act of 1878 banned all children under 10 from working and limited a woman’s hours to 12 hours a day