How Many Families Lost Their Source of Income by 1932?

The Nifty Depression (1929-1939) was the worst economical downturn in modern history. The preceding decade, known as the "Roaring Twenties," was a fourth dimension of relative affluence for many centre- and working-course families. As the economy boomed, new innovations allowed for more leisure time and the creation of a consumer guild. Simply the economic depression that followed those benefaction years profoundly affected the daily life of American families, in ways large and pocket-sized.

Even the flush faced severe belt-tightening.
Four years later on 1929 stock marketplace crash, during the bleakest point of the Cracking Low, about a quarter of the U.S. workforce was unemployed. Those that were lucky plenty to have steady employment often saw their wages cut or their hours reduced to function-time.

Even upper-eye class professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, saw their incomes drop by as much as 40 percentage. Families who had previously enjoyed economic security suddenly faced financial instability or, in some cases, ruin.

The average American family lived by the Low-era motto: "Utilize information technology up, habiliment information technology out, make do or do without." Many tried to go on upwardly appearances and conduct on with life as close to normal as possible while they adapted to new economic circumstances.

Households embraced a new level of frugality in daily life. They kept kitchen gardens, patched worn-out clothes and passed on trips to the movies as they privately struggled to retain buying of a abode or motorcar.

A mother serving dinner in the clean surroundings of a Subcontract Security Assistants camp in Visalia, California, 1939. (Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

Potlucks and 'thrift gardens' were the norm.
Women'due south magazines and radio shows taught Depression-era homemakers how to stretch their food upkeep with casseroles and one-pot meals. Favorites included chili, macaroni and cheese, soups, and chipped beef on toast.

Potlucks, frequently organized by churches, became a popular fashion to share food and a cheap form of social amusement.

Many families strived for self-sufficiency by keeping pocket-sized kitchen gardens with vegetables and herbs. Some towns and cities allowed for the conversion of vacant lots to community "thrift gardens" where residents could grow food.

Between 1931 and 1932, Detroit'southward thrift garden plan provided food for about xx,000 people. Experienced gardeners could exist seen helping former office workers—still dressed in white button-downwards shirts and slacks—to cultivate their plots.

Children playing cards in the front yard in Washington, DC, 1935. (Credit: Smith Drove/Gado/Getty Images)

Board games and miniature golf courses thrived.
The average American family didn't take much extra income to spend on leisure activities during the 1930s. Earlier the Depression, going to the movie theater was a major pastime. Fewer Americans could afford this luxury after the stock marketplace crashed—so more than than i-third of the cinemas in America airtight betwixt 1929 and 1934.

Often, people chose to spend fourth dimension at home. Neighbors got together to play cards, and board games such every bit Scrabble and Monopoly—both introduced during the 1930s—became popular.

The radio also provided a free course of amusement. By the early 1930s, many middle course families owned a home radio. Comedy programs such as Amos 'n' Andy, soap operas, sporting events and swing music distracted listeners from everyday struggles.

Mini-golf game became a Low-era craze. More than than 30,000 miniature golf game links sprang upward across the country during the 1930s. Prices ranged from 25 to fifty cents per round.

Workers at a push button factory in New York, circa 1935. (Credit: FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Women entered the workforce in increasing numbers.
Some families maintained a heart-class income by adding an extra wage earner. Despite widespread unemployment during the Depression years, the number of married women in the workforce actually increased.

Some people criticized married women for taking jobs when so many men were out of work, though women often took clerical or service industry positions that weren't seen as socially acceptable for men at the time.

Women found work as secretaries, teachers, phone operators and nurses. Only in many cases, employers paid women workers less than their male counterparts.

Families on government support were less stigmatized.
The New Deal programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt meant the expansion of regime into people's everyday lives later 1933. Many Americans received some level of fiscal assistance or employment as a consequence of New Deal programs.

Prior to the Great Depression, about Americans had negative views of government welfare programs and refused to proceed welfare. In some towns, local newspapers published the names of welfare recipients.

While attitudes toward government help began to change during the Great Depression, going on welfare was still viewed as a painful and humiliating experience for many families.

A family of migrant workers in Blythe, California, 1936. (Credit: Dorothea Lange/Getty Images)

Economical hardship acquired family breakdowns.
The stress of financial strain took a psychological toll—especially on men who were suddenly unable to provide for their families. The national suicide rate rose to an all-time high in 1933.

Marriages became strained, though many couples could not afford to split. Divorce rates dropped during the 1930s though abandonments increased. Some men deserted their families out of embarrassment or frustration: This was sometimes called a "poor man's divorce."

It's estimated that more than two meg men and women became traveling hobos. Many of these were teens who felt they had become a burden on their families and left dwelling house in search of work.

Riding the runway—illegally hopping on freight trains—became a common, yet dangerous manner to travel. Those traveling the country in search of work often camped in "Hoovervilles," shantytowns named after Herbert Hoover, president during the early years of the Great Depression.

Criminal offense was mythologized, but this was largely hype.
Famous outlaw duo Bonnie and Clyde went on a two-twelvemonth bankrobbing spree across America, while in New Jersey, famous aviator Charles Lindbergh'due south toddler son was abducted, held for ransom so murdered.

Loftier-contour events like these, broadcast through radio announcements and in newspaper headlines, contributed to a sense of lawlessness and crime in the Not bad Depression, stoking fears that difficult times had created a offense wave. But this was more hype than reality.

Fierce crimes initially spiked during the first few years of the Nifty Depression, but nationwide, rates of homicides and tearing crimes began to fall sharply between 1934 and 1937—a downward trend that continued until the 1960s.

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Source: https://www.history.com/news/life-for-the-average-family-during-the-great-depression

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