Title: The Working Class in the Early 1900s | The Classroom
Headings: The Working Class in the Early 1900s
The Working Class in the Early 1900s
Rural Farmers
Factory Workers
Survival in the Lower Class
Growing Middle Class
Women in the Workplace

Content: The Working Class in the Early 1900s | The Classroom
The Working Class in the Early 1900s
Even though the early 1900s were a time when urbanization was growing like wildfire and cities were popping up all over the map, rural farming was still an important occupation of the working class. As factories and industries grew, farmers provided the food and agricultural resources that helped sustain life. The working class was often divided according to socioeconomic status with the wealthiest making up only a small percentage of the total labor force. Most of the working class struggled to make a decent living in factories, shipyards and farming communities. Rural Farmers
Farmers didn’t enjoy the cosmopolitan aspects of the growing, populous, industrial cities but their workload was just as taxing. Rural workers performed hard labor to ensure their crops and livestock survived, despite droughts, famines and pestilence. Farming was often considered part of the lower socioeconomic class because farmers lived simple lives, without luxury, fame or prestige. However, rural workers didn’t face the poor working conditions, unsanitary housing environments, poor sunlight, smoggy air and disease-infested close quarters that many of the poorer city-dwellers encountered. The rural population remained a majority until 1920. Factory Workers
The working class in industrialized cities consisted primarily of immigrant and native workers who labored at clothing factories, industrial plants and meat packaging facilities.