During the years 1783 - 1812, Great Britain experienced the first years of the Industrial Revolution. This revolution has impacted the lives of many people in Britain in a mix of different ways, some positive due to technological advances but some negative such as increased infant mortality rates. However, there is much evidence to suggest that the hardships of the working classes due to industrialization were overstated as there were other more important factors. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay It is fair to assume that the greatest hardships of this time period were caused by industrialization. The working conditions of this period were extremely terrible and constituted a serious hardship for the working classes. Conditions were terribly humid in the factories and commonly caused lung infections among workers. Meanwhile there was no system of sick pay or national insurance, so it was in the best interests of workers to resist illness. Shift patterns were also difficult, it was twelve hour days, six days a week as the factory owners wanted optimal profits. Due to the long hours, workers were regularly exhausted and subject to fines if it affected their punctuality. Since children are a cheaper source of labor for factory owners; the infant mortality rate in London's factories has risen to 90%. Workers also ran the risk of getting hair or fingers caught in machinery, causing many injuries but having no source of insurance. On the contrary, the country was becoming richer due to rising national income. National income in this period increased from £232 million to £523 million. This meant there was a wider margin for workers than their disposable income. Additionally, a wider range of goods such as tea and sugar were offered which could be imported. The diet of the working class began to diversify. This also suggests that industrial production has increased, which means that the variety of consumer goods is also increasing. The income is emblematic of an increase in living standards as the working classes, who made up around 80% of the population, were migrating to towns and cities, where there were higher wages for the same work. There are also other difficulties in the period such as bad harvests that occurred in 1795-1796 and 1799-1800, these difficulties would have caused intense hunger and a lack of income for the farmers. Another difficulty was the Napoleonic wars, which caused a stagnation in wage growth, both of these difficulties were not related to industrialization. There were also social reforms that affected the structures of society creating difficulties for workers. The Combination Acts of 1799 were an integral part of these reforms. Workers had moved to urban cities and lived in close proximity to each other, so they shared ideas with their peers and could express their grievances to each other. This led to the development of trade unionism. At the time, the French Revolution was underway and the British government was still concerned about the threat of it affecting British citizens. Therefore, the Combination Laws banned unionism and limited workers' rights and political voice. On the other hand, this evolving social framework benefited many workers. Many argue that the clear decrease in the living standards of the working classes was the same, but an increase for the classes..