The industrial revolution in Britain took a while to breed a new large class of petty thieves and drunks which over populated cities. It took a while for the coin to drop that they might want to do something about the use of child labour, unsafe work places and minimal wages to deal with it. IIRC, the slow move to correct these issues began around 1830. Some consider that movement the second part of the industrial revolution in Britain.
It might be an eye opener to see when such things as a guaranteed minimum hourly wage, a 40 hour work week and 1 week's yearly paid holiday started.
Bob
