1.. Most Americans believed the economy was strong in the 1920s, and did not realize that it was not as great as it seemed. This was mainly due to the overall lack of knowledge of the economy. People were buying and buying more than ever before, taking out loans without the complete ability to pay them back, and that was because that’s what the government was telling them to do and what was being advertised in society. Many things in the United States seemed great, but were really leading to a major economic downfall, such as the unequal distribution of income, poor corporate/banking structures, and the over-speculation of the stock market.
People failed to realize that the economy was not as strong as it seemed. Not only average citizens, …show more content…
There were many effects of the Great Depression on American lives, even in the beginning. First and foremost, people began to cut their spending. They stopped buying things that they didn’t need, which also led to a decline in the success of many businesses. Since many businesses began to fail, that led to high unemployment rates throughout the country. On a better note, people did learn to value their money more and they used some forms of entertainment/media, mostly movies, to “escape” the poor quality of life that they were surrounded by. Of course, that was only a temporary fix for the bigger problems that people …show more content…
People didn’t have the money to support families, leading to a decrease in both marriage rates and the rate of child births. Existing families didn’t have money for food or proper care, so malnourishment and lack of cleanliness led to an increased rate of disease/sickness, which mainly affected and was fatal to children and older people. Despite what seems like it would be true, divorce rates actually went down during this period of time. The cost of living alone, especially for women (whose unemployment rates reached over 50%) was far higher than they could manage, so many people remained married so that they could afford to live their
People failed to realize that the economy was not as strong as it seemed. Not only average citizens, …show more content…
There were many effects of the Great Depression on American lives, even in the beginning. First and foremost, people began to cut their spending. They stopped buying things that they didn’t need, which also led to a decline in the success of many businesses. Since many businesses began to fail, that led to high unemployment rates throughout the country. On a better note, people did learn to value their money more and they used some forms of entertainment/media, mostly movies, to “escape” the poor quality of life that they were surrounded by. Of course, that was only a temporary fix for the bigger problems that people …show more content…
People didn’t have the money to support families, leading to a decrease in both marriage rates and the rate of child births. Existing families didn’t have money for food or proper care, so malnourishment and lack of cleanliness led to an increased rate of disease/sickness, which mainly affected and was fatal to children and older people. Despite what seems like it would be true, divorce rates actually went down during this period of time. The cost of living alone, especially for women (whose unemployment rates reached over 50%) was far higher than they could manage, so many people remained married so that they could afford to live their