jan 1, 1900 - Impact of Industrialization: Wage Earners

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About two-thirds of Americans worked for 10 hours a day and six days a week by 1900. Their wages were determined by supply and demand rules. Due to the large supply of workers in the form of immigrants, wages were at the level it needed to be. David Ricardo justified low wages by arguing that raising wages would increase the working population and the more workers would only causes wages to fall, essentially creating an endless cycle. Even though real wages naturally increased due to inflation, wage earners did not have enough to support a family with just one income. As a result, working-class families depended on women and children to earn wages.

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