Ordinary Families During The Great Depression

Research Summary Ordinary families were crushed and there would be a constant fear of tomorrow and if everything would become worse. The Great Depression was a time of great and negative social, economic, and political changes. Socially and culturally, one consequence of the Stock Market crash was a rise in the crime rate as unemployed people “reserved to petty theft to put food on the table,” (“Social and Cultural Effects of the Depression”). Top priorities did not include healthcare and visits to the doctor were only for emergencies. Education was too expensive for most, but because the chances of a male getting a job were so incredibly low, many chose to stay in school longer. Numbers of marriages and divorces decreased steadily in the 1930s as many waited to propose until they could provide for the family. Birth rates dropped as family planning and birth control use became more popular.
The Great Depression was an economic downturn that started in 1929 and lasted up until 1939. Economically, industrial production in the United States “declined 47 percent and real gross domestic product (GDP) fell 30 percent,” (Romer). After the crash, people …show more content…
Programs like the Works Progress Administration gave Americans job opportunities such as working on public roads and in parks. Some politicians opposed the New Deal because they thought it was socialist and others supported it because they wanted to promise an income for each American family which was payed for by high taxes on the wealthy. Southerners were forced to work on farms and “lynchings of black Americans increased from eight in 1932 to 28 in 1933” (Campbell). In defense of industry jobs, President Roosevelt passed a law which outlawed discrimination of gender, sex, and race. He also called on some African Americans as advisers in the federal government in hopes of soothing race