Editing Swing Riots (section)

=== Precarious employment ===
In the 1780s, workers would be employed at annual [[Hiring and mop fairs|hiring fairs, or ‘mops’]], to serve for the whole year. During that period, the worker would receive payment in kind and in cash from his employer, would often work at his side, and would commonly share meals at the employer's table. As time passed, the gulf between farmer and employee widened. Workers were hired on stricter cash-only contracts, which ran for increasingly shorter periods. First, monthly terms became the norm. Later, contracts were offered for as little as a week.<ref name="hobsbawm18">Hobsbawm/Rude. Captain Swing. pp.&nbsp;18–33</ref> Between 1750 and 1850, farm labourers faced the loss of their land, the transformation of their contracts and the sharp deterioration of their economic situations. By the time of the 1830 riots, they had retained very little of their former status except the right to parish relief, under the [[Old Poor Law]] system.<ref name="hobsbawmxxi">Hobsbawm/Rude. Captain Swing. pp.&nbsp;xxi–xxii</ref>

Additionally, there was an influx of Irish farm labourers in 1829, who had come to seek agricultural work which contributed to reduced employment opportunities for other farming communities.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=The National |title=The National Archives - Homepage |url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/what-caused-the-swing-riots-in-the-1830s/ |access-date=2023-10-31 |website=The National Archives |language=en-GB}}</ref> Irish labourers would find themselves being threatened from the beginning of the riots the following year.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Griffin |first=C. J. |date=2010-11-01 |title=The Violent Captain Swing? |url=https://academic.oup.com/past/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/pastj/gtq035 |journal=Past & Present |language=en |issue=209 |pages=149–180 |doi=10.1093/pastj/gtq035 |issn=0031-2746|url-access=subscription }}</ref>