“The function and shape of the family were completely transformed by life in the industrial city of Britain in the 18th to 20th century.” Explain.
The function and the shape of family were completely transformed in the industrial city in the following ways : Ties between members of a family loosened. Among the working class the institution of marriage started breaking down. Women of the upper and middle classes in Britain faced higher levels of isolation. Their lives had, however, become comfortable as domestic maids cooked, cleaned and cared for their young children on low wages. Among the lower social classes, women who worked for wages had some control over their lives. However, many social reformers felt that the family as an institution had broken down, and needed to be saved or reconstructed by pushing these women back into the home. The city encouraged a new spirit of individualism among both men and women and a freedom from the collective values. Women gradually lost their industrial jobs and the domestic sphere became the proper place for women. Political movements such as Chartism mobilised large number of men. Gradually women too participated in such movements for suffrage that demanded right to vote for women or for married women’s rights to property from 1870s. By the 20th century, the urban family had been transformed yet again due to wartime work done by women who were employed in large numbers to meet war demands. The family now consisted of much smaller units.
