Did industrialization lead to an overall improvement in quality of life?

There is no doubt that the Industrial Revolution improved the overall quality of

life in retrospect -- even though the era itself came about over two centuries ago. Not

only did it mark a shift to powered, special-purpose machinery and mass production in

factories, it provided an atmosphere for various ideals to emerge. For example, three

spheres in which it helped global society progress and become more fair-minded are

economic ideologies, the emergence of the middle class, and the feminist movement.

The Industrial Revolution saw the rise of two main economic ideologies:

capitalist concepts like laissez-faire capitalism, and socialist systems like Marxism. The

budding economic structures back then are largely responsible for the creation of

capitalism in the modern cities of today. Before the Industrial Revolution, governments in

places like Britain were extremely regulatory (Harris 206). But during the Industrial

Revolution, the factory systems that came up were more capitalistic. This economic

climate created a situation in which wealthy factory owners were able to exploit working-

class people. Over time, socialist ideologies emerged in response to this exploitation. The

most prominent socialist ideology is Marxism, best associated with Karl Marx and the

system of ideas he established in his books ‘The Communist Manifesto’ and ‘Das

Kapital’. In each book, he argues against the exploitation of the working-class and for a

more equitable society in which there are no class divisions (“Impacts of the Industrial

Revolution”). The growth of these socialist movements was significant because of the

impact they had on the world in the decades and centuries that followed. Throughout the

20th century, socialist ideologies transformed classical liberal societies and laissez-faire

capitalism to a more mixed economic system based upon the principles of the welfare
state. And today, most modern democracies include elements from both sides of the

economic spectrum, resulting in a more moderated and neutral governing system. With

the introduction of new economic ideologies, new economic groups also came up.

The Industrial Revolution marked the emergence of a middle class in Britain.

“Until then, there had been only two major classes in society: aristocrats born into their

lives of wealth and privilege, and low-income commoners born in the working classes.”

(“Effects of the Industrial Revolution”). However, developing industries required more

of, what are today known as, “white-collar” jobs, such as shopkeepers, bank clerks,

insurance agents, merchants, accountants, managers, doctors, lawyers, and teachers. In

this new middle class, home life became a sanctuary from the stress of industrial work.

Home remained separate from work and took on the role of emotional support, where the

women of the house created a safe spiritual harbour away from the rough-and-tumble

industrial world outside. Families could now also afford to send their children to school.

Along with better health care and a decrease in infant mortality, families realised that

children were more of an economic burden. So, middle-class women gave birth to fewer

children. And today, the middle class is crucial for the economy of a country, and is very

important in the social hierarchy as well. Another way in which the Industrial Revolution

led to the refinement of social hierarchy was through the advent of the feminist

movement.

The Industrial Revolution had a profound impact on the lives of women. Before

the dawn of industrialisation, women were normally tasked with traditional jobs such as

making and repairing clothing to be sold in the loca market. However, since the textile

industry benefited greatly from the numerous inventions that became popular during the
time period, the making of clothes shifted from a feminine traditional role to the mass

production of good in factories. As a result of this, women entered the workforce in

textile mills and coal mines in large numbers. But women were not valued the same as

men in the workplace, and were therefore often paid much less than men. For example,

while male British industrial workers were often paid 10 shillings per week, while

women were paid half of that (“Effects of the Industrial Revolution”). At the same time,

as previously mentioned, many socialist values were emerging in the Industrial

Revolution, as workers began to stand up for themselves and fight for equal rights.

Hence, the early feminist movements also emerged out of this time period, as women

began to organise in groups and protest for more equality in society. One of the first

things that women began to fight for during this time period was the right to vote.

Throughout the 1800s, women were denied the right to vote, but this changed in most

industrial societies in the early 1900s, as the governments began to extend rights to

women. Today, the feminist movement, stronger than ever before, continues as women

fight for equal pay, maternity rights and more.

Hence, it is evident that the Industrial Revolution not only “elevated the standard

of living by making items such as ready-made clothing, wool rugs, fancy cookware and

preprocessed food to people who could not have been able to afford them otherwise”

(McCormick 85), but also resulted in the improvement of life in terms of society; how

people are treated, what rights they are given, and what moral value one associates with

industrialisation. Though some historians claim that the benefits we enjoy today are being

reaped from the suffering of the people before these advancements came about; so, the

question we must ask ourselves now is, would any of this progress have been possible
 without the actions of those who stood up for themselves, and should we, in honour of

those who fought the oppression of the close-minded 18th-century society, restrain from

enjoying the luxuries we have today as a result of the Industrial Revolution?

Works Cited

"Effects of the Industrial Revolution." Modern World History,

webs.bcp.org/sites/vcleary/modernworldhistorytextbook/industrialrevolution/ireffects.ht

ml#middleclass. Accessed 9 Nov. 2018.

Harris, Ron. “Government and the Economy, 1688–1850.” The Cambridge Economic History of

Modern Britain, edited by Roderick Floud and Paul Johnson, vol. 1, Cambridge

University Press, Cambridge, 2004, pp. 204–237.

History.com Editors. "Industrial Revolution." HISTORY, A&E Television Networks, 28 Aug.

2018, www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution/industrial-revolution. Accessed 12

Nov. 2018.

"Impacts of the Industrial Revolution." HistoryCrunch, www.historycrunch.com/impacts-of-the-

industrial-revolution.html#/. Accessed 12 Nov. 2018.

"Industrial Revolution." INVESTOPEDIA, www.investopedia.com/terms/i/industrial-

revolution.asp. Accessed 12 Nov. 2018.

McCormick, Anita Louise. Life in the Late 1800s. Enslow Publishers, 1998.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Industrial Revolution." Encyclopædia Britannica,

Encyclopædia Britannica, 9 Oct. 2018, www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution.

Accessed 9 Nov. 2018.