Socioeconomic Growth and Expansion Case Study 2022

The socioeconomic growth and expansion that was witnessed in the 19th century were
the greatest in human history. The cooperative family economy, migration, and mechanization
are some of the concepts that characterized the economic growth in the 19the century. Through
this economic growth, employment rates generally increased in both adults and the youth. Even
though the employment rate generally increased, the economic statuses of families differed for
various reasons. For example, working-class children had to work in the mills.
During the 1800s, meeting the family’s economic survival was the main reason that
children engaged in labor. The income that children earned during this period was greater than
their fathers because children’s income was 20% of the entire family income (Mintz, 13). This
means that families could not have survived economically without their children's income.
However, it was difficult to get jobs. That is why most of the indigenous families moved to New
England in search of a better salary. Phillipe Lemay’s family, for example, had to sell all their
property to get money for their transport to New England. Generally, much pressure was put on
children to participate in the family’s economy since even the parents in the working-class
considered that their children should get involved in correlative labor.
Both boys and girls were employed in the mills even though the majority of the
employees were young women. The mills were the most preferred source of employment at that
time because they offered multiple jobs especially for women which enabled women to be
independent. Moreover, women found working in the mills to be temporary which means they
could find time to do other things. For example, women left mills some time to go and visit home
unlike barbaric conditions which required them to work for long hours. Further to this, people
employed in French-Canadian textile, for example, the family of Philippe Lemay used to take