The Condition of the Working Class in England

The author goes into more detail about the various problems facing the proletariat at the workplace. To add credibility and better illustrate his points, he cites official reports, personal letters of workers, as well as his own conversations with people employed at factories.

The major problem inherent in the mechanization of production is the reduced demand for human labor. The more advanced the jenny, loom, and other devices become, the less need there is for people, which leads to prevalent unemployment. The bourgeoisie’s claims that lowering the cost of products leads to new factories and more jobs is only partially true, as it takes years for this process to result in more work, and even then technological progress keeps reducing the need for human labor. Furthermore, many jobs involving the supervision and maintenance of machines are better suited to the smaller and more nimble hands of children and women, who are also paid less. As a result, adult men are displaced from the workplace by the cheaper labor of younger people and women.

Engels challenges another claim of the bourgeoisie—that machines make workers’ lives better—through vivid descriptions of the horrendous conditions in factories.