Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living
One of the biggest controversies over the Industrial Revolution is how it affected the working class. The oldest debates were over whether the standards of living rose or fell. Those that believed they fell claimed that the capitalists squeezed every ounce of surplus they could from the working class. Those that believed the standards of living rose claimed that the environment was consumer-friendly, with more and more goods available to the working class every year.
Today's historians agree that overall, the standards of living increased. They do not agree, however, on when this improvement occurred.
In an effort to solve this controversy, historians have attempted to define exactly what "standard of living" means. They all seem to agree that it should mean happiness, but happiness is impossible to measure. Instead, historians typically use "real income" as the measure for the standards of living. Real income is money earned and then adjusted according to the cost of living. However, it does not take into account unemployment, pollution, health, life expectancy, or free time.
After exhausting debate and analysis of the average income, historians have agreed to disagree on whether there was rapid or slow economic growth during the Industrial Revolution. Instead, they have decided to interpret how the Industrial Revolution was affected by other events. They have determined that the Industrial Revolution had an overall positive effect, but it quite possibly was neutralized by negative events such as wars, high taxes, and rapid population growth.