Question

Statement 1: Factory owners preferred to hire women and children over men.

Statement 2: Machines replaced many manually done jobs during the Industrial Revolution.

• A. Statement 1 is true and statement 2 is false
• B. Statement 2 is true and statement 1 is false
• C. Both statements are true
• D. Both statements are false

Answer 1

The correct option is C Both statements are true

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, women in rural areas were actively involved in various activities like farm work, looking after livestock, gathering firewood, and spinning yarns on spinning wheels in their homes. Children, on the other hand, worked at home or in the farm under the watchful guidance of their parents or relatives. However, with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, women and children started working in factories and industries, where they had to work for long hours without any breaks.

A number of human jobs were replaced by machines and the industrialists preferred to employ women and children over men. In the 1850’s, two-thirds of the workforce in gilt-button factories were women and children. All the workers were paid in Shillings. Men were paid 25 Shillings a week, while women were paid 7 Shillings, and children one shilling each, for the same hours of work.