Poor Working Conditions The Effects of Industrialization Industrialization

Poor Working Conditions The Effects of Industrialization

Industrialization Review � New influx of industry in cities. � Factory jobs open up for people to work in � Many of these industries were looking to hire cheapest labor. � Immigrants, children and women taken advantage of most.

Poor Conditions � Most jobs had 12+ hour work day � Six day week, seven for steel mills. � No vacation time, sick days, unemployment benefits or workers compensation for injuries on the job.

Poor Conditions � Injury was common- on average in 1882, 675 workers were killed on the job each week. � Factories were often dirty, poorly ventilated, and poorly lit leading to increased danger. � The tasks laborers were doing were very repetitive, and often with dangerous equipment.

Women and Children � To this point, women generally did not work outside the home. � Children were employed to fill many of the new jobs introduced by industrialization. � Both women and children were paid less than men and made them attractive to those looking to maximize profit. � Many families needed everyone to work simply to survive. � Nearly all the jobs women and children held were “unskilled”

Children in the Workplace � Many children under the age of 15 and some as young as 5 held full time jobs. � Most were inexperienced, exhausted and hungry leaving them more prone to accidents. � Most children who worked did not attend any form of schooling and instead worked to allow their families to survive.

Wages at this time � Children- often as low as 27 cents a day (14 hour day)- roughly $85 a year. � Women- average of $269 a year � Men- average of $498 a year. ---------------Comparison. Andrew Carnegie in the same year made $23 million. Today, $498 a week is only ~$25, 000 a year. That comes to $12. 45 an hour.