Industrialization's Influence on Family Life: Benefits vs. Drawbacks

This essay explores the multifaceted impact of industrialization on family life, contrasting its benefits and drawbacks. Before industrialization, families typically lived in extended, multi-generational units bound by agricultural labor. Industrialization spurred migration to urban centers in search of work, leading to the rise of nuclear families. While this shift reduced animosity and allowed for more focused attention on fewer children, it also altered traditional family roles, particularly for women. The essay concludes that industrialization, despite its challenges, ultimately improved family life by increasing privacy, improving quality of life, and empowering children through education and increased resources. Desklib provides access to this and similar essays.

Industrialization and family 1
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Industrialization and family 2
Industrialization has benefited family life vs Industrialization has harmed family life
Introduction
A family is one of the most important units that make up society. Traditionally, a family
would have been grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts and their children living in one big
house, working together for the benefit of everyone 1. This has changed in modern times, due
to the advent of industrialization. Today, it is harder to describe families, as there are many
different types of relationships, and children often do not factor into the equation anymore.
The following paper aims to answer whether industrialization has benefited family life, or
whether it has harmed family life.
Industrialization has benefited family life
Industrialization has been one of the most important events in the history of man. Not only
did it change the way that man did work, but it was also able to change the family life of
human beings successfully. Before industrialization, most families lived together, in a joint-
family system that is still seen in many parts of the world. Agricultural work and labour
depended on these extended families to happen 2. Farms were not something that could be
taken with people, so there were generations of people that stayed in the same place. This led
to a large extended family system that shared the same basic values. However, many issues
came from this. The main concern would be that everyone in extended families, by having
separate opinions and beliefs, could not hold together for that long. This led to increased
fighting, and even though the family stayed together, it created a lot of animosity between
members of the family.
1 Karl Ittmann, Work, Gender And Family In Victorian England London: Macmillan Press
Ltd, 2016.
2 Tamara K Hareven, Families, History, And Social Change: Life Course And Cross-Cultural
Perspectives Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 2002.

Industrialization and family 3
However, there was a drastic change that was visible post-industrialization. According to,
McDaniel, Tepperman, and Colavecchia, “Some families became migratory, moving where
work was available. Since this was almost impossible to do with an extended family, the
smaller, compact nuclear family became the more common family form” 3 This was because
of the hope for better work and conditions in the cities. Many workers got jobs in the
industrial sector and had to move to cities. This led to nuclear families, which had rarely ever
existed before industrialization. One of the main advantages of nuclear families was that there
was rarely animosity between family members. The family stayed together because they liked
each other and cared for each other, not because they needed the other to succeed.
The second main benefit was the decrease in the number of children. Due to the costs,
children often became a liability, since they would want to keep some of the wages that they
had earned, which was not something that would happen in a traditional society. This often
led to parents having fewer children, which decreased the population. However, it usually
meant that the parents were able to provide more for the children, and they were also able to
ensure that the children got better items 4. They would also be able to devote more time and
affection to their children, which would also have resulted in better family life since it would
not lead to any regret or animosity. People also began working with and for strangers, which
made families private.
Industrialization also often brought about many changes to the lives of women, which
affected the lives of the family 5. The main role of the woman, before industrialization, was to
ensure that the children had been looked after, that the food was cooked and the house was
3 Susan A McDaniel, Lorne Tepperman and Sandra Colavecchia, Close Relations: An
Introduction To The Sociology Of Families, 6th ed. United States of America: Pearson
Canada Inc, 2007.
4 Barbara A Mitchell, Family Matters: An Introduction To Family Sociology In Canada, 3rd
ed. Toronto: Canadian Scholars, 2017.
5 Barbara Katz Rothman, A Bun In The Oven: How The Food And Birth Movements Resist
Industrialization, 1st ed. United States of America: New York University Press, 2016.

Industrialization and family 4
kept well. Since this was a labour-intensive type of work, women often did not do any other
work, which is to say, they were not the bread-earners 6. However, post-industrialization,
there were fewer children to look after, and machines such as the vacuum cleaners which
benefited women to a large extent. According to, McDaniel, Tepperman, and Colavecchia,
“Vacuum cleaners, for example, brought the possibility of cleaning a house more readily than
by sweeping or taking heavy area rugs out to the yard to be beaten with brooms or paddles. 7”
This meant women could often devote more time to their children, and provide them with the
time they needed to grow better, which often increased the value of family life.
Conclusion
There have been many benefits to industrialization, and improved family life is one of the
improvements. To a large extent, people during the industrialization era and post-
industrialization began to spend more time with their families, which led to decreased
animosity and more affection and love. People would also, for the most part, afford to give
the children education, which often empowered children. They were able to afford clothes for
children, and luxuries which in villages, in large families would not have been available.
Families, to a large extent, became more private, and the quality of life improved for most
people in Canada.
6 Frances Goldscheider, Eva Bernhardt and Trude Lappegård, "The Gender Revolution: A
Framework For Understanding Changing Family And Demographic Behavior", Population
And Development Review 41, no. 2 (2015): 207-239, doi:10.1111/j.1728-4457.2015.00045.x.
7 Susan A McDaniel, Lorne Tepperman and Sandra Colavecchia, Close Relations: An
Introduction To The Sociology Of Families, 6th ed. United States of America: Pearson
Canada Inc, 2007.

Industrialization and family 5
References
Goldscheider, Frances, Eva Bernhardt, and Trude Lappegård. "The Gender Revolution: A
Framework For Understanding Changing Family And Demographic
Behavior". Population And Development Review 41, no. 2 (2015): 207-239.
doi:10.1111/j.1728-4457.2015.00045.x.
Hareven, Tamara K. Families, History, And Social Change: Life Course And Cross-Cultural
Perspectives. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 2002.
Ittmann, Karl. Work, Gender And Family In Victorian England. London: Macmillan Press
Ltd, 2016.
McDaniel, Susan A, Lorne Tepperman, and Sandra Colavecchia. Close Relations: An
Introduction To The Sociology Of Families. 6th ed. United States of America: Pearson
Canada Inc, 2007.
Mitchell, Barbara A. Family Matters: An Introduction To Family Sociology In Canada. 3rd
ed. Toronto: Canadian Scholars, 2017.
Rothman, Barbara Katz. A Bun In The Oven: How The Food And Birth Movements Resist
Industrialization. 1st ed. United States of America: New York University Press, 2016.