David Livingstone Birthplace’s Women in the Mill Resource

Life in a cotton mill.

Working-class women often worked in factories, textiles or domestic services. However, women were often excluded from census records because their wages were thought of as secondary earnings to men’s wages. Wages were often low, conditions were bad and working days were extremely long for both men and women working in the mills. Some women worked on the machines alongside men but did not tend to do tasks that involved heavy lifting.

As a result of these inequalities, women in the UK organised together and began to campaign for better working conditions and rights. Women all around the world are still campaigning for equality with men.

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