In the earliest phases of industrialization, entire families often worked together in the same factory, with children working side by side with their parents. Over time, however, changes in factory design and machinery led to new labor patterns that took the supervision and control of child workers out of the hands of parents. As familial connections and control broke down, public concern about the potential for the abuse of child laborers, particularly young girls and women, intensified. The documents included in this feature focus on the impact of industrialization on workers in general and on working-class families in particular. As you read them, ask yourself how industrialization changed the lives of Britain’s laboring classes. How and why did the British government seek to exert greater control over factory conditions and the composition of the industrial labor force?