What was the impact of industrialization on family life and standards of living

Question

any negative or positive effects?

Answer 1

There were both positive and negative effects to industrialization.

 

Negative: Divorce rates increased, as well as rates of suicide and depression. Industrialization led to an increase in pollution as fossil fuels like coal were burned in large amounts when being used in industrial machines. It also led to an increase in child labor, as more and more children of younger and younger ages worked to help support their families. Many worked in textile industries (often as repair men who were supposed to crawl in amongst the dangerous moving parts without stopping the machine) or as the power source for hauling the mine cars used in underground coal mine shafts. This led to many children with health issues, malnutrition, stunted growth, physical deformities, missing and mangled appendages, and death. The rate of alcohol consumption greatly increased, as men began to spend more and more time after work in pubs and bars instead of at home (directly tied to rates of depression and divorce). Families spent less time together, as they were either working or to exhausted from 12-14 hour days. Rapid urbanization led to poorly planned cities which were overcrowded, dirty, and poorly sanitized. This led to an increase in disease, and outbreaks of infectious diseases such as cholera as tainted water supplies were  consumed by city dwellers. It also led to an decrease in homemade goods as the main source of finished goods. Personalization, creativity, and family businesses were replaced by cheaper, faster made products.

 

Positives: Urbanization as more and more people moved to cities to find work. It led to our modern ideas of consumer society, as people were able to begin to choose different brands to buy, based on everything from the price, to quality, to designs, patterns, and colors. Companies began to make different models of things in order to attract more buyers, so it could be seen as the beginning of modern capitalism. It led to an increase in technology, as more and more machines were invented and used to help increase the efficiency at which products were made, leading to lower prices and more availability. Also, it was the first time that a source of power, other than muscles power (human or animal,) was used to create products. It led to a more connected world, as new technology like trains, steam engines, and railroads that were designed to more quickly transport goods, were also used to better connect people. It helped establish the industrialized nations (mainly England and America) as the dominant world powers. It would eventually lead to more rights for workers and the concept of the modern working conditions we have, although at the start this would not have been true. It helped women begin to break the cult of domesticity, as  more and more young, unmarried women got jobs. 

 

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