Summary of Classical Liberalism Condition

Those that worked were in managerial positions that did not involve heavy labour

Poor wages and high cost of living resulted in poor standard of living

Unemployment due to goods being produced by machines requiring few workers instead of manual labour of many workers

• workplace abuse; beatings for minor infractions

• hard work with unreasonably long hours with few breaks and no vacation time; workers often fined for bathroom breaks

• child labour; young children working mainly to help add to small family incomes

• blacklisting; if workers wanted to quit on job to work elsewhere, employer would blacklist him or her so that not hired elsewhere

• unhealthy and unsafe work environment; toxic fumes and materials, equipment without safety features, etc.

• unjust firing practices; threat of being fired for minor infractions; injury often resulted in firing (no longer useful)

Able to afford the finest food, clothing, and shelter in the best parts of cities (where waste and sewage was disposal was taken care of)

Able to afford medical care and education

City slums: Because of low wages, workers could hardly afford rent; owning a house was out of the question no matter how hard one worked; landlords would not improve housing because that decreased rent profits

Pollution: Factories dumped their waste directly into environment nearby, which was where workers lived.

Overcrowding: City infrastructures did not support the numerous workers; clean water, sewage and waste disposal, garbage collection was unavailable; inexpensive housing usually nonexistent or affordable, so families lived often within one room of rundown apartments. (No birth control meant large families; life spans were short.)

Health care: Doctors and hospitals (poorly skilled) were financially unavailable for the average worker; illness and workplace accidents took their toll.

Education: Schooling was not publicly funded; education was largely unavailable to working class.