Family Life During the Great Depression

Family Life during the great depression was pretty hard, money was scarce so they had to make due with what they had and save on where they could. While it is impossible to say exactly how living during the great depression was without actually seeing it for yourself you can get an idea by listening to people who were there and looking at the facts.

Families during the great depression had to make ends meet with less. The average monthly income fell to $1,500 in 1933 down from $2,300 in 1929. Unemployment more than quadrupled to 25% .

In addition to that bank failures spread across the country like wildfires; causing millions to lose their savings with no government programs to give them hope of seeing the money ever again.

Over 200,000 people lost their homes in the start of the depression and became bums or nomads traveling across the great American highways. Those who families of the great depression who were able to hold onto their houses a little longer took in some homeless and stretched their pennies together in order to keep their house and pay the bills.

Having Fun While Living in the Great Depression

With a tighter budget people had fun doing free stuff. Instead of going out and spending money people played board games, did puzzles, played baseball, and listened to radio (if they had one).

The exception to this was movie theaters. During the great depression the movie theater business thrived. People who were not happy with their lives sought shelter in the comfort of the an entertaining movie. In a way it let them escape from reality.

Farms

While many cities were running out of money for new projects farmers were also having difficulties of their own.

Live during the great depression for farmers was no easy tasks. Many farmers ran out of money and ended up losing their farms. Those who didn’t had to cope with the “Dust Bowl”.

These “Dust Storms” were huge clouds of dust that flew across the great plans of U.S. and Canada. The dust particles would find their way into the homes of farmers through any little crack and soon caused hazardous living conditions both outside and inside of the home.

Children of the Great Depression

Life during the great depression meant everyone needed to help out. Many children left schools to help support their families by working for jobs paying meager wages. At the height of the great depression 2.25 million children between the ages of 10-18 worked in factories, canonries, mines or farms.

During their free time however kids just enjoyed “being kids,” playing baseball and getting into mischief was very popular.

Women of the Great Depression

The average women living during the great depression still had a husband that worked, only for shorter hours and for less pay. As a result women had to pinch pennies and make ends meet by being creative. Planting gardens to save on food and buying necessary items on a budget were some ways which they dealt with the problem.

Some women worked, but typically they worked shorter hours and more seasonal jobs. Many were pressured in to leaving their jobs behind as men were still considered to be the “bread winners” of the family.

Women who got married were also expected to leave their jobs and become house wives tending to the families of the great depression rather than helping to support them.

Although divorce rates decreased many husbands deserted their wives and their families either looking for work or running away from their problems. Very soon 1.5 million husbands had deserted their family of the great depression causing their wives and children to fend for themselves.

Life During the Great Depression and It’s Affect

The hard conditions of the depression lead to the rise of new regimes in Europe who easily took control of the government by promising change and later lead to WWII and the loss of countless lives.

Living during the great depression also had a major affect on the mentality many people. A good portion of people who lived during that time do not trust banks. This is undoubtable the result of the many widespread bank failures in the 30s that caused people to lose their life savings.

Life during the great depression also lead to a more conservative mentality. The idea is to buy only what you need and save the rest, just in case.

In any rate it was a hard time in American’s history in which people had to fight to survive. It did show just how much humans can endure, but hopefully it will never happen again.

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