They also were working in very close quarters with men. Yet women were also specifically recruited into industries such as textile production because of their perceived greater abilities in these areas - and because women were supposed to be, and socialized to be, more docile and thus less demanding than men. Since the ideal was to have men the primary household bread winners, the work of both women and children was considered supplemental to his salary. Thus an employer felt justified paying women and children less. The jobs they were given were often gender differentiated - women being given what was considered less skilled work.
Some questions require some research.
Instead students could find out the wage differences in manufacturing industries in general. Since 1970, the differences between female and male wages in manufacturing have narrowed. Where the labor market remains segregated, equal pay legislation has little effect. Provide students with images of the highly corsetted middle class women, whose fussy clothes took an enormous amount to time to maintain - some even needed a servant to help them manage all the buttons. Also wrist and hand muscle and back problems.