Editing Industrial Revolution (section)

====Social structure and working conditions====
Harsh working conditions were prevalent long before the Industrial Revolution. [[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.<ref name="industrial4" />

The Industrial Revolution witnessed the triumph of a [[middle class]] of industrialists and businessmen over a landed class of nobility and gentry. Working people found increased opportunities for employment in mills and factories, but these were under strict working conditions with long hours dominated by a pace set by machines. As late as 1900, most US industrial workers worked 10-hour days, yet earned 20–40% less than that necessary for a decent life.<ref name="countrystudies"/> Most workers in textiles, which was the leading industry in terms of employment, were women and children.<ref name="Beckert_2014"/> For workers, industrial life "was a stony desert, which they had to make habitable by their own efforts."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Industry and Empire: From 1750 to the Present Day|last=Hobsbawm|first=Eric J.|publisher=Penguin|year=1969|isbn=978-1-56584-561-9|volume=3|location=Harmondsworth, England|page=65}}</ref>