Before the Industrial Revolution came along, cottage industry was the main part of the people's lives. Cottage industry was created after the demand of cotton cloth. For the people to make clothes the cottages were provided and that was the people's workplace. The merchants were the employers and the employees were mostly the people around them who could sew and make clothes, so their relations were close. The working conditions were exceptionally good because they were basically working at their houses. Their family relations were good too because they were mostly working together in the same village, and the standard of living was good because after the cottage industry, the people were earning money by working at their homes making clothes. As the Industrial Revolution came along, the things changed. The employer-employee relations were never good because the employers were making the workers to work like machines for endless hours and since there were so many workers in the factories, nothing was personal. The working conditions were much worse because of the pollution and also, the family relations were worsening after the Factory Act of 1833 because the sexual division of jobs was taking place. This separated the family members and the relationship was worsening. The standard of living rose after the long wars with France. .
The cottage industry was created by the people automatically because of the great demand of cotton clothes by the people in the beginning of 1700. Many people joined in cottages and worked to make clothes for the merchants that sold clothes. Since the workers were mostly from the same town and village, the relations between the employers and the employees were close and quite personal. The employers mostly knew the people that were working for them. Also, the family relations were very tight and close because the family members were working in the same village and were not scattered all around the country trying to find a job in different houses.