On one hand the pay was low and the hours were long (and often the textile workers lived in a mill town, effectively meaning their entire lives revolved around their work.

On the other, it would presumably have been a new sense of freedom for the (mainly) women working there due to earning a wage, and maybe was a better life than what they would have lived on the farm?

I'm aware that there were some protests among the Lowell Mill Girls, but was that widespread or were many quite content? Are there any historians who have studied this issue?