The Industrial Revolution led to more economic freedom for women. The large numbers of new factories ensured
that women would be a necessary part of the new
workforce. And though women often worked long hours
with less pay than their male counterparts, life in the city
granted them many more opportunities than they'd had
before.
According to Sarah Brightener, author of The Women's
Revolution: How Industrialization Brought Freedom,
women living in cities could earn their own money, and to
some extent make their own decisions. And although a
woman living in the city would never have had the same
freedom as a man, she had more control over her finances
than most women living in rural areas.