How Did The Great Depression Affect Women

The Great Depression the United States in the 1930s; the wealthy, the poor, and the rest of the world feeling its impact. During the Great Depression, man Americans lost their jobs, famers experienced the Dust Bowl, and women took care of their families with what little resources they had. With no system to help families that lost their source of income, 40 million people fell into poverty – most families unused to the pain of hunger and lack of funds to support their families. Although the Great Depression had an impact across the United States to both men and women, women responded differently to the Depression than men. Men during the Depression struggled to keep or obtain a job, while women started to take on jobs to support their families. After the stock market crash, unemployment raised from 3.2% in 1929 to 25% by 1933. Many men felt like failures when they had lost their jobs and were not able to find work. One man recalls, “Men who were willing to work couldn’t find work.” Most Americans had resort to charities and soup kitchens to feed and clothe their families; some men even going door-to-door to ask for handouts. During this time, what little jobs that were available went to young, abled bodied men or Americans with a college degree. Family households abandoned traditional gender roles, causing women to start working in female oriented jobs such as nurses, maids, secretaries and waitresses. A young woman was …show more content…
Women responded by finding work when their husbands lost their jobs, all while taking care of the household. Men moved from place to place to find some type of work, feeling ashamed they could not support their families during this crisis. Many Americans felt the tensions and hostility of their communities, leaving all social classes to feel the effects of the Depression. The Great Depression was an awakening, people living through poverty up until World War II in