Life in the 1930’s . By: Mariana Calderon. The former U.S representative Steve Buyer once stated “Men and women whose early youth was shaped in the ordeal of the Great Depression showed the values formed in that crucible when tyranny threatened a world.” This quote briefly explains the lifestyle many people had to adapt to in the 1930’s. Living during this devastating era was not easy, living conditions were poor, unemployment rates were high and all of this factors impacted families. The 1930s economic conditions forced many families to change their lifestyles drastically causing them to lose everything they had.
First and Foremost, poor living conditions were common since families could not afford a proper shelter. According to Michelle Lee many others had no other choice than to leave their homes because just could not afford them. The only solution people had was to live in the streets, from there ‘Hoovervilles’ were created. These were named after President Hoover who had completely ignored the damages of The Great Depression. Families had to move to other areas where factors such as the Dust Bowl and unemployment were not as damaging. California was a perfect place to live for many who were looking for new job opportunities and life was more affordable.(Hanes 19). The dust bowl worsened the lifestyle of everyone including farmers whose crops were ruined by the dangerous dust winds. Everyone was affected by all the terrible events going on during that time period. Innocent children were paying a terrible price. According to Everyday Life 1929-1941 stated that “They were malnourished, sick, had no schooling, and had been pulled away from all familiar surroundings.”(19) Since families didn't have enough income to support their children,the result of that was filled orphanages with kids whose parents couldn't support them. The great depression changed many areas of people's lives, this caused many people to lose their homes and forced to live in the streets.
In addition to the harsh living conditions ,unemployment rates significantly right after the stock market crash. The great depression affected the lives of millions of people who found themselves jobless and hopeless. Even though everyone was a victim of the economic crash, people with low wage jobs were earning less and sometimes even jobless. Due to the despair, the unemployed along with the communist activists created a group called the “unemployment councils”. People were in charge of holding meetings and worked on bread lines which provided food to families (Cox 1). These unemployment groups helped many families that had no access to proper nutrition and other struggles. According to the article Everyday Life 1929-1941 “Many families, especially in the middle-to upper-middle income groups, made a conscious attempt to plan their expenditures in response to wage reductions or employment changes”. These middle income families who were earning about $1000 annually continued to accommodate to the economic recession they faced. All in all, unemployment affected many areas of daily living since there was no money to buy food or essential necessities.
Along with all these reasons, The Great Depression affected family relationships. Many areas of daily life were affected due to the economical disorder during the 1930s. During this rough era marriage rates decreased because the harsh times forced families to delay their marriages. (McElvaine 1) Families often found themselves in several altercations since men were in charge of bringing food to the table but as covered it was rare to find a job. Large families were common before the 1930s but during this time birth rates decreased because families could not provide for their children. Because of this children and teenagers were basically on their own, people from 16 to 20 year olds started to leave home and tried to provide for themselves, while other who stayed home rarely went to school but still could not expect a great future (Hanes 16). To summarize families were economically deprived and children did not have a proper future.
To sum up, the 1930s had catastrophic events that forced people to adapt to new lifestyles. For example luxurious living conditions were very rare to most people, towns called Hoovervilles were an example of poor living conditions because many families had to forcely accomodate themselvesin these villes.In addtion ,unemployment rates raised stating the stock market crash, this provoked lower income to already middle income families. All of these events put a lot of distress to family relationships and caused children to lack education and proper care. The Historical events of the 1930s were cruel but in the end it taught everyone how to thrive in a world of chaos.