How did life change for Victorian workers?

What was the Industrial Revolution?

Image caption,
A Victorian illustration of a quarry and factories in Bradford, Yorkshire. A quarry is a place where stones are dug up to be used as building materials.

The Industrial Revolution brought about massive changes for the workers of Victorian Britain.

People changed from working at home, to working in big, coal powered factories.

As towns and cities filled with more people, and jobs became more dangerous, the government created new laws to improve the safety of workers.

Watch: How did the lives of working people change?

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Discover how the lives of working people changed during the Victorian period with Bakshi, an Indian sailor.

Important words for the Victorians

Keyword	Definition
Settlement	A place where people live and work together.
Cottage industry	A small business where people work from their home, often making things to sell.
Handloom	A special machine used to make cloth by hand.
Industrial Revolution	A time of great change in technology and how items were made.
Steam engine	A machine which uses steam from boiling water to create movement.
Factory	A large building where items are made by machines.
Urbanisation	When many people move from the countryside to the towns or cities.

How did the way people work change?

Illustrated image showing well dressed Victorian men and women looking at a power loom. — Image caption,
Machines like powerlooms could make clothes much more quickly and in bigger quantities than by hand.

Before the Victorian period, most people lived in small settlements in the countryside. During the Spring and Summer, they worked on farms to grow food and raise animals to sell. In the Winter, they made cloth and clothes in their homes. Making and selling things from your own home was known as the cottage industry.

Coal was used to heat people’s homes. Burning coal to heat water created steam. Scientists found lots of steam could be used to power machines. The steam engine was created in 1712. Over time, steam-powered machines made goods (like clothes) more quickly and in larger quantities than a person could make by hand. As a result, coal became one of the most important materials in Britain.

This changed the way people worked because instead of working for themselves at home, they now had to travel to a factory to work for a boss.

What effect did urbanisation have?

Black and white image of Victorian women sitting down.

Many factories were built in towns and cities because they were close to coal mines, canals and railways. As more factories were built, more jobs became available. By 1851, more people were living in towns and cities than in the countryside. This massive shift in where people lived is called urbanisation.

More homes were built quickly and cheaply on small plots of land and built in long rows that were joined to the row behind. These were known as back-to-back houses. They had no running water and were overcrowded.

As towns and cities became overcrowded, many people started to become ill. The lack of sewers to carry human waste away spread diseases like cholera in the water.

Do you know about 'The Great Stink' of 1858? Can you guess what large city it happened in and why?

What was life like for Victorian people?

Throughout Victorian Britain, the Industrial Revolution changed the jobs that many Victorians did. Look at the slideshow below to learn more.

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Image caption,
Workers did long hours in noisy and dangerous factories. Men were usually paid 15 shillings (75p) a week, while women and children were paid much less. The air in these factories was often full of dust which caused lung diseases. The loud machines damaged the workers hearing. Children were forced to crawl under working machines to collect loose thread which led to many accidents.
Image caption,
Coal mining was very important. Men mined the coal, while women worked as ‘hurriers’ to pull heavy tubs of coal through the tunnels. Children as young as six helped as ‘putters’ to push the tubs. ‘Trappers’ as young as four years old sat all day in the dark, opening and closing the wooden doors to let the coal carts pass through.
Image caption,
Many people worked as domestic servants in the homes of wealthy people, often working from 6am until 10pm with little time off. Lower servants, such as housemaids or kitchen helpers did the hardest work while sharing small, dark rooms in the attic. Upper servants, including the housekeeper and the cook, managed the house. They had better food and lived in their own rooms.

New laws stopped the youngest children from working and made workplaces safer by adding guards to dangerous machines. The most significant change was the Education Act 1870 which meant that every child between five and ten had to go to school.

How did the Victorians spend their free time?

Black and white image of Victorian holidaymakers on a pier in Rhyl. — Image caption,
Victorian holiday makers on the pier at Rhyl on the north coast of Wales.

New laws improved life for many Victorians such as the introduction of the weekend and time off.

Theatres, music halls, libraries, museums and art galleries were built across the country for people to enjoy.

People also played sports like lawn tennis and croquet, or older sports with newer rules, such as rugby, football and cricket.

New and faster railways meant people could go on holiday for the first time in seaside resorts such as Blackpool, Scarborough and Brighton.

Think like a historian

Light blue thought bubble that says Thinking Points!

Have a look at the thinking points below and think about your answer to each question. You could even write them down on a piece of paper or discuss them with somebody else if you want to.

The Industrial Revolution changed the way that things were made. What do you think was the biggest difference between the old way of making things and the new industrial way?
Towns and cities became busier and bigger as more people moved to them to find work. How do you think this affected the health and safety of the people living there?
At the start of the Victorian Period, many workers had little time for anything other than work. How do you think new laws and technology changed what workers did when they weren’t at the factory or in the coal mines?