<P> In a more positive interpretation, Ivy Pinchbeck argues that capitalism created the conditions for women's emancipation . Tilly and Scott have emphasised the continuity in the status of women, finding three stages in English history . In the pre-industrial era, production was mostly for home use and women produce much of the needs of the households . The second stage was the "family wage economy" of early industrialisation; the entire family depended on the collective wages of its members, including husband, wife and older children . The third or modern stage is the "family consumer economy," in which the family is the site of consumption, and women are employed in large numbers in retail and clerical jobs to support rising standards of consumption . </P> <P> Ideas of thrift and hard work characterized middle class families as the Industrial Revolution swept Europe . These values were displayed vibrantly in Samuel Smiles' book Self - Help, in which he states that the misery of the poorer classes was "voluntary and self - imposed - the results of idleness, thriftlessness, intemperance, and misconduct ." </P> <P> In terms of social structure, the Industrial Revolution witnessed the triumph of a middle class of industrialists and businessmen over a landed class of nobility and gentry . Ordinary working people found increased opportunities for employment in the new mills and factories, but these were often under strict working conditions with long hours of labour dominated by a pace set by machines . As late as the year 1900, most industrial workers in the United States still worked a 10 - hour day (12 hours in the steel industry), yet earned from 20% to 40% less than the minimum deemed necessary for a decent life; however, most workers in textiles, which was by far the leading industry in terms of employment, were women and children . For workers of the laboring classes, industrial life "was a stony desert, which they had to make habitable by their own efforts ." Also, harsh working conditions were prevalent long before the Industrial Revolution took place . Pre-industrial society was very static and often cruel--child labour, dirty living conditions, and long working hours were just as prevalent before the Industrial Revolution . </P> <P> Industrialisation led to the creation of the factory . The factory system contributed to the growth of urban areas, as large numbers of workers migrated into the cities in search of work in the factories . Nowhere was this better illustrated than the mills and associated industries of Manchester, nicknamed "Cottonopolis", and the world's first industrial city . Manchester experienced a six - times increase in its population between 1771 and 1831 . Bradford grew by 50% every ten years between 1811 and 1851 and by 1851 only 50% of the population of Bradford was actually born there . </P>

Working conditions in the early decades of the industrial revolution were
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