Question

Which of the following describes a major social effect of the Industrial Revolution? A. More workers than ever were required to produce food. B. Populations spread more evenly between rural and urban areas. C. The gap between the rich and the poor grew larger. D. Access to education decreased for middle-class families.

Answer 1

The gap between the rich and the poor grew larger

Answer 2

The correct answer is C. A major social effect of the Industrial Revolution was that the gap between the rich and the poor grew larger.

As a consequence of industrial development, new social classes were born, led by the proletariat - industrial workers and poor peasants - and the bourgeoisie, owner of the means of production and owner of most of the income and capital, with which the workers carried a small part of the benefits of production, while the bourgeoisie became much richer, increasing the social gap between the two groups.

This new social division gave rise to the development of social and labor problems, popular protests and new ideologies that advocated and demanded an improvement in the living conditions of the most disadvantaged classes, through trade unionism, socialism, anarchism, and communism.