Marriage And Family Situation Of The Mid-eighteenth Century By British Workers In The Mid-nineteenth Century 'study

The Industrial Revolution broke out in the mid-18^th century. And one hundred years after this became a transitional period from traditional society to industrial one for Britain. The Industrial Revolution has made a great change, and its influence is so abroad. Workers are the most influenced people. Their marriages and families reflect the features of the whole society.Workers had more rights in the choice of the spouse because of their economic conditions and make-a-living methods. And they considered that labor ability and material conditions were the most important factors when they chose their future spouses. In their daily life, most of workers made a very poor life during the Industrial Revolution. In their leisure time, they still did some traditional entertainments, but their spirit state was very bad.In the couple's role, workers' had no difference from the traditional ones', that is to say, the male's existed outside home, while the female's was within home. The couples cooperated and endeavored to build up their families together. In the property assignment, the husbands had still absolute right to hold property. The condition has not improved until the passing of the married women's rights act at the late of 19th century. As to their sentiments, there were still some couples who had deep love. But we can not deny that instable economic conditions and inferior living standard did destroy the couple's sentiments. Their parent-children relations had three features: traditional paternity autarchy was transiting to democratic relation; intimate feelings and weakening attachment coexisted; the duty of making children socialized had been partly transferred. In their life, kinfolk relations were still very important. Although nucleus families were becoming the dominant family mode in the society, kinfolks were still so important in assistance to obtain employment, lodge and move from country to city without social guarantee system.The conditions of workers' families reflect obviously the transition characters of Britain from agricultural society to industrial one. The families have changed in acute...