Today life in factories and businesses is pretty pleasant and not very dangerous at all. This is because of a few laws that they didn’t have back in the time of the Industrial Revolution. Working conditions in this time were the opposite of today.People in this time worked in many extreme conditions. They had to work long hours of up to 12 hour shifts. They also had to work in the intense heat of the machines in the factory packed as close together as possible. This caused mortality rates in the factories to be pretty high because of the machine’s moving parts to be exposed and with little clearance around the machines people were at a high risk.Women who had previously earned an income by spinning and weaving yarn couldn’t keep up with the factories speed or quality. This caused them to no longer have two sources of income so they were often hired by factories to tend to the machines for a lower wage then the men. Children were also employed because of their small size they could work around the machines much easier then adults who need more room to maneuver. They still had to keep up the speed required by their superiors at all times and were fed terrible meals that they were required to eat while they were still eatingSome of the laws that were passed to limit the people that could work and for how long:-Factory Act of 1819- Only 12 hours of work a day for children-Factory Act of 1833- Children under 9 couldn’t work in textile factories and 10-13 year olds could only work a 48 hour week-Factory Act of 1844- Limited women to only 12 hours a week-Factory Act of 1847- Maximum of 10 hours a week for women and children-Factory Act of 1850- Women and children could have a 10 and a half hour week but couldn’t work before 6a.m. or after 6p.m.-1874- No one allowed to work for more than 56.5 hours a weekSorry the Hyperlink thing isn't working but here are the two sourceshttp://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/IndustrialRevolution/workingconditions.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factory_life_during_the_industrial_revolutionFactory during the off hours
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