Leisure and Employment emphasizes the great divide between classes in industrial cities during this period. In the first chapter of the novel, Barton highlights the importance of being employed rather than idle when he says he would rather see his daughter “earning her bread by the sweat of her brow, as the Bible tells her she should do [...] than be like a do-nothing lady [...] and going to bed without having done a good turn to any one of God’s creatures but herself” (12). To the working people of Manchester, especially Barton, employment is a moral imperative as well as essential to keep individuals and their families alive. Employment is also often used by characters as a means of distraction. John Barton uses busyness to deflect from his sorrow at deaths in the family. When Mary learns of her father’s crimes, it is said she “unconsciously sought after some course of action in which she might engage. Any thing, any thing, rather than leisure for reflection” (304).

Creating a deliberate contrast, the wealthier characters of the novel rejoice in their leisure time. After Carson Mill burns down, as Barton predicts, the Carsons take the time that the mill is shut down for rebuilding to relax and enjoy their leisure time.