Subsistence farming is a lot of work, no doubt. But the work is very uneven. Some parts of the year, there's a lot of work. Whole winter, not so much.
Meanwhile factories run all the time.
Meanwhile factories run all the time.
There's a reason parents sent their kids to those factories. They desperately needed the money. I doubt they hated their kids.
Industries desperately needed cheap labor and the mechanization of farming helped by generating widespread unemployment.