Young Brunette Girl Near The Old Iron Factory

The next blow to the traditional factories came from globalization. Manufacturing processes (or their logical successors, assembly plants) in the late 20th century re-focussed in many instances on Special Economic Zones in developing countries or on maquiladoras just across the national boundaries of industrialized states. Further re-location to the least industrialized nations appears possible as the benefits of out-sourcing and the lessons of flexible location apply in the future.
New England factories in the 19th century
In New England in the early to mid-19th century, many cotton and textile factories employed large numbers of female adolescent laborers from the New England area. The girls came from families of middling farmers. Factory employment offered an alternative to rural lifestyle, and many women labored, not only to send money back home, but to gain greater social & economic independence. They were able to earn enough at the factory to cover their living expenses and still have spending money and savings for dowries.