The Standard of Living Debate was an argument between historians during the 20th century about how the Industrial Revolution affected the standard of living. We know now that the question is when did the standard of living begin to rise rather than did the standard of living rise. Clearly, the standard did rise in food, clothing, living space, income, and life expectancy compared with what people did before the Industrial Revolution. Agriculture was back breaking labor that was so hard that some people died from it.