Most of the mill girls were between the ages of 16 and 25, with some as young as 10 years old and others in middle age. During the industrial revolution, many young women and girls worked in mills, factories, and other industrial settings. These jobs often required long hours of hard labor and many of these workers were not well-paid. Children as young as 10 years old were also employed in these mills, as they could be paid less than adult workers and were more likely to be able to perform the repetitive, physically demanding tasks required by the mill jobs.