Chapter 41: The Lives of Workers

Historians have generally had two very different takes on the Industrial Revolution. One take is that it left workers with a lot of grime, exploitation, and suffering. The other take is that it led to workers realizing greater material well-being, greater opportunity, and greater empowerment.Today we dig deeper into the lives of workers in the First Industrial Revolution – to tell the whole story. We’ll discuss pay and working conditions, the state of the social safety net, the roles of women and children in the mills and mines, the leisure opportunities available to workers, and the conditions of their homes and neighborhoods in the growing industrial cities.Support the Industrial Revolutions on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod