How Did Child Labor Affect Children During The Great Depression

This investigation is important in its historical context because the Great Depression was the worst and longest economic recession in the history of the world. The Great Depression began in the United States on October 29, 1929 after the crash on Wall Street (Alchin). It lasted a total of ten years with the most difficult years being between 1932 and 1933 (Alchin). Everyone whether they were rich or poor, young or old, a farmer or a mother were deeply affected by this economic crisis. However, it was the children of this time that received the worst of the impact.
Children during the Great Depression had to struggle with many different issues, many of which they had no control over. One of those issues consisted of constant hunger and malnutrition. During this time food was difficult to find, and …show more content…
Most children were pulled from school as early as the elementary level to work (Kate), and students that were able to attend school were forced to use inadequate textbooks and supplies (Simpson). During the hardest years of the depression many schools had to close, leaving over three million children with no source of schooling (Simpson). Furthermore, some families lacked the necessary resources such as books, shoes, and clothing to send their kids to school; which led to kids writing letters to Mrs. Roosevelt asking for such items (Cohen). The evidence suggest that the circumstances brought about by the depression continued to hurt kids in ways that were outside of their control, which would affect them even after the depression had ended.
The Great depression, which had affected so many people in the U.S., affected children in every aspect of their lives: physically, mentally, and emotionally. Moreover, the depression played a significant role in how the often forgotten individuals of the depression would be negatively impacted for the remainder of their