Did the Industrial Revolution bring misery?

No it didn’t. The masses already had a fair amount of poverty and misery. The mediaeval myth of rosy-cheeked and carefree villagers dancing around the maypole before returning home to dine on roast beef is a later construction of romantic conservatives. The reality was squalor and unremitting toil. Death from disease or childbirth was common, as was malnutrition and starvation.

The industrial revolution created employment opportunities and gave the chance of advancement. True, women and children worked long hours. They had always done so. True, working conditions were poor and often dangerous. They had always been so. With the spread of mechanized production, the wage labourers were gradually able to afford better food, better clothing, better household goods such as china, and luxuries such as tea. The wealth-creating process gradually made society able to afford better public health and social amenities. The industrial revolution was a step up, and its spread has been the one of the greatest advances humanity has made.