Family Life, Industrial Revolution, Life-Work Balance
The Industrial Revolution had a profound effect on the life of the family and in their ways of earning a living. It also affected every family members' relationship with God.
These are the factors which the Industrial Revolution changed the way families lived: [1] the shift from agriculture to industrial; [2] the creation of a system of labor and wage earning; and [3] the creative tension between trust in God and secular matters.
A turning point
What was the Industrial Revolution? It began sometime in the second half of the 18th century. Before the Industrial Revolution, families depended on the land to build their home, and to grow crops to produce their food. To grow a large family became necessary during those times, as all the members of the family helped in producing their food from their own farm. This means families owned the means of production.
Effect of industry on the family's sustenance
The Industrial Revolution changed the way families earned a living. Instead of the farm, they now worked in industries that provided them with work and employment. These industries created many factories that led work away from the labor needed to till the land, to labor and work in factory lines of the industries that began to dot the landscape of many cities and towns.
New working conditions
The progress of industry was fast. Much of the land were now transferred from agricultural, to land that were used for industrial purposes. This direction decreased the size of the family, since it was not necessary anymore to have many children to earn a living. Even women and children also began to work in factories. Work conditions had changed: from work in the farm that was open-air but exposed to the natural elements; to work in the factories that were cramped but secured from the natural elements. The form of daily sustenance also changed: from food that was obtained directly from the families' farm production, to wages that were obtained from employers so that they can buy foods from food-producing factories.
Social analysis
It was this direction in history that widened the gap between those who owned the means of production, and those that do not. The Church wanted to address these many changes through encyclicals on labor and social justice, until it also integrated the social sciences through the Second Vatican II Council. The Council became open to how the social sciences can be used to solve the crises in the modern world. Some of these systems of analyses are not as widely used by conservative Catholics as they have been derived from socialist forms of analyses. These forms of analyses are often used by liberal theologians in part of the world where poverty and institutionalized injustices are seen. The social sciences are some modern ways to integrate the Catholic faith in solving the socio-political and economic problems of families.
Shift in family lifestyle
Though there are still many areas in the world that are still rural in context, the shift of lifestyle from rural to the urban in many industrialized areas had a great effect on the family. Whereas before, the family's relationship with God as Provider was through the earth they tilled, with the coming of the Industrial Revolution, the family was taken away from this relationship with God and the earth, and had now to relate with employers who provided them with wages for their labor. Although food was always available by spending the money they earned from their labor, this new way of life had shifted their attention more to the purchasing power of money, and took away their focus on the earth as the source of their food and sustenance from God. On the other hand, one great benefit of industrial progress was the efficient and mass production of food that was always available to the family. This is in contrast to the agricultural set up where families had to wait for the harvest season to arrive in order to obtain the crops that the earth yielded.
Religion in the parish and Christian spirituality disconnected from the reality of work
As families settled in the cities and became more removed from the farm, the image of God as Creator of the earth lessened in importance. Man became more aware of his capabilities to provide for himself and his family. Whereas before, it was a known truth that God provided for the family through the earth they tilled, man now became aware of his capacity to produce on his own through the labor he performs in the factory line. Whereas in the agricultural set up, he reaped the fruits of his own labor, in the industrialized set up, he gets monetary compensation but does not obtain the full produce of his own labor (a portion of which is returned to build and grow the factory in which he worked). The image of God as Creator of the earth was blurred by mechanization in the factory lines. More and more, the image of God as Provider for the family was shifted from the earth and the parish, to just the parish alone. Work in the factory lines involved money and earning a living.
Family situation changed
As religion was restricted to the parish, and labor associated with money, more than food, the tension between dependence on God versus dependence on money markedly increased. Thus, some families that depended more on money experienced a crisis in their faith. Many families that advanced well industrially also experienced a weakening of their Christian faith. However, old and traditionally-minded families that continued to trust in God, and lived frugally, continued their bond to the Catholic faith. Other families, who placed their trust more in means other than God, often experience the problems many are experiencing at present.
A modern trend that balances life and work
Since that First Industrial Revolution, there have been many more technological advancements. Many write that we are entering into a Fourth Industrial Revolution. Whatever this new Industrial Revolution is, and how it will affect the family again, is still to be studied and analyzed. But there is a modern trend that seeks a return to the original balance human life had. Some doctors who specialize in food and health advise families to buy organic or non-processed foods. Processed foods are produced with a lot of sodium (used as a preservative) and many sugars (to make it very palatable to the appetite). This modern trend is bringing people back to the idea that healthier and more nutritious food are obtained more from farms that deliver directly to the supermarkets. Processed foods often have many chemicals and other industrialized compounds that are harmful to the health in the long-term. When families buy organic foods and cook at home, their finances will also improve as they will spend less on health care and be healthier and stronger, both physically and mentally. Also, the bond that exists between the parents and the children will be stronger. This is a modern breakthrough: [1] families will bond again in the homes with organic produce cooked at home, [2] children will see, learn and understand where fruits, vegetables and the meat really come from, and [3] people will again think more of the farm and the earth which God had originally created for them to dominate responsibly. This is a fresh and a new direction to a more balanced way of life and work for families: to balance their relationship with God, the parish, the industries in which they work, and the earth where everyone else lives.
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