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What impact did Herbert Hoover's response have on American society during the Great Depression? 

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What impact did Herbert Hoover's response have on American society during the Great Depression? 

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What impact did Herbert Hoover's response have on American society during the Great Depression? 

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What impact did Herbert Hoover's response have on American society during the Great Depression? 

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Having privilege means that you possess an unearned advantage in society through some aspect of your identity, in comparison to folx who lack that attribute. These dynamics tend to reflect larger power differentials in society as folx who are members of a dominant group possess privilege over those whose identity marginalizes them by comparison.

While it can be uncomfortable to recognize that you have unearned advantages over other folx through no fault of theirs, working through your discomfort can allow you to utilize your privilege in a way that promotes more equitable outcomes for others in society.

This article will provide examples of what privilege can look like in everyday life, tips on how you can gain better awareness of your privilege, and how you can use it to work in solidarity with marginalized groups.

Examples of Privilege in Society

There are many ways in which privilege can present itself, and while there are general trends, anomalies do exist. It's possible that certain types of privilege may not hold true in all circumstances. What's more, when people are accustomed to having privilege, that experience is normal for them and thus it is hard to recognize. For example, you may have privilege based on facets of your identity in the following ways:

When it comes to race, white folx benefit from an unearned advantage in society, as they are treated better than those who come from BIPOC communities based on their skin color.

While white folx do experience challenges in life, these challenges are not caused by the color of their skin. In addition to recognizing white privilege, research has found that such awareness of this kind of privilege alone did not result in a change regarding racial bias.

However, in addition to recognizing privilege, if white folx also feel empowered by their ability to engage in social change, that allowed them to take the actions needed to address injustice. Doing so ultimately results in an impact on racial biases.﻿﻿

Wealthy folx have unearned advantages over those who lack such financial resources because they have greater access to opportunities. In this way, while wealthier individuals may deal with difficulties in life, these hardships are not caused by their increased financial resources in the same way that folx who lack wealth are oppressed.

Research shows that talking about class is often difficult because these discussions typically bring up the topic of race (an uncomfortable subject for many). Moreover, these conversations may also affirm the fact that those of a higher class are afforded privileges that others do not have the opportunity to access.﻿﻿

If those with class privilege avoid talking about that and hold negative attitudes towards marginalized groups, this problematic way of thinking will continue. By this, it is crucial to get comfortable with acknowledging your privilege so you can utilize it for good.

Cisgender individuals possess privilege over transgender and nonbinary folx. Also, men have unearned advantages over marginalized genders.

While those who identify with the gender that they were assigned at birth may experience challenges, these difficulties are not tied to their identity as a cisgender individual. In contrast, cissexism greatly impacts the lives of trans and nonbinary folx.

Similarly, the difficulties that men face are not a result of their gender. Due to this, gender privilege oppresses marginalized genders and negatively impacts their lives in various ways.

In working towards more inclusive gender policies at a university, researchers found that "the work of facilitating a cultural shift, the reality of what often must occur, is time consuming and one that requires partnership across traditional lines of power and privilege."﻿﻿

Regarding ability, folx who are able-bodied have unearned advantages over disabled folx, which impacts their lives. Those who do not experience disabilities possess privilege over disabled individuals.

Research on the experiences of ableism found that 28.3% of the disabled students reported having experienced microaggressions in their social work classes, such as minimizing or dismissing disability issues, bullying, etc.﻿﻿

If these issues are being reported in an academic program, in which faculty are expected to promote equitable outcomes (a core value of the social work field), it shows how those working in academic institutions can fail to acknowledge their own able-bodied privilege when relating to disabled folx.

Sexual Orientation

With respect to sexual orientation, heterosexual folx possess privilege over other sexual orientations, as they benefit from societal constructs that place them in the dominant group over folx who are homosexual, pansexual, asexual, etc.

While heterosexual folx may experience difficulties in their lives, these are not related to their sexual orientation.

A study of heterosexual women sampled at twenty‐year intervals from 1952 to 1992 found that social change in attitudes can and did occur during the first 20 years, but less so in the second 20-year period.﻿﻿ In this way, it is easy to see how those with privilege often take it for granted.

Other Examples of Privilege

These are just a few examples of how you can possess privilege in our society, but there are many other aspects of your identity whereby you may have an unearned advantage including:

Gaining Awareness of Your Privileges

Like most things, becoming aware of your privilege takes work, but if you are interested in helping to promote equitable outcomes for all folx, such investment in efforts to better understand your privilege can pave the way towards dismantling oppressive systems and attitudes.

This is really a challenge for all of us because of how we are socialized in society and because of the constant messaging we get in all different forms (education, media, etc.) about all of these different types of anti-isms.

Some of us would benefit from individual therapy to assist with identifying privileges if we are unable to thoroughly work on it by ourselves. It is something that has to be continuously worked on.

Intersectionality

Back in 1989, Kimberle Crenshaw first coined the term " intersectionality" to highlight the many attributes of one's identity.

What Is Intersectionality?

Intersectionality includes gender, race, class, sexual orientation, etc. Crenshaw argues that without taking these pieces of someone's identity into consideration it becomes difficult to understand the extent of an individual's marginalization.﻿﻿

Crenshaw argued that the "focus on the most privileged group members marginalizes those who are multiply-burdened and obscures claims that cannot be understood as resulting from discrete sources of discrimination."﻿﻿

In other words, once you have an understanding of the aspects of your identity that afford you certain privileges, it can be helpful to reflect on how your privilege manifests itself in different situations.

How Intersectionality Can Highlight Your Privilege

If you are white and able to reflect on your white identity and think critically in terms of your understanding of law enforcement, whereby Black folx are killed at a rate that is 2.8 times higher than that of their white counterparts,﻿﻿ you may understand whiteness as a privilege.

In another example, you might take note of how your physical appearance, body size, and age offer you certain privileges over those with a disability or who are older.

If you are able-bodied, you likely do not experience people assuming that you are incompetent without ever knowing your work ethic and abilities.

Using Your Privilege to Help Others

After recognizing the ways in which you have privilege, you can use those advantages to help promote equitable outcomes for others.

Self-Reflection to Address Your Privilege

Self-reflection is a great way to understand your privilege because it fosters critical thinking so you can connect your individual lived experiences to larger systemic realities.﻿﻿ Doing so can pave the way for you to help create social change.

Acknowledge Your Privilege in Conversations

When it comes to using your privilege to help others, you can probably imagine many ways to do good, but often those with privilege fail to recognize how much harm they can do when they do not think critically enough about the power they hold.

The potential for harm in this way is particularly impacted by that very privilege because having privilege can lead you to believe you have earned more than you have actually worked for. This can lead to feeling superior over your oppressed counterparts.

To avoid additional harm, when engaging in conversations about America's social issues, try to preface your statements with the aspects of your identity in which you have privilege.

For example, if you are a cisgender, white man and find yourself in a discussion about societal issues with someone who identifies as nonbinary, you can acknowledge that your gender and race affords you certain privileges in society.

It's also important to be mindful of your privilege, and listen a lot more than talk when engaging with members of marginalized communities.

Privilege Lessens the Severity of Your Oppression

It's important to understand your privilege and marginalization affects the oppression you face.

Having privilege in one area can lessen the oppression you face in another. For example, white transgender folx face less oppression than transgender folx who are also BIPOC.

In another instance, an able-bodied white woman may have fewer disadvantages than a white man dealing with a disability.

A Word From Verywell

It's important to understand how having privilege affords you unearned advantages in life over marginalized groups. Acknowledging privilege in conversations can help to make room for oppressed folx to express themselves.

The more willing that you are to think critically about your privilege, the more comfortable you can become using your privilege to help enact social change-something that is extremely necessary for those who are continuously disadvantaged.

Deep self-reflection can feel overwhelming, but it's crucial to put in that consistent effort in order to see a shift in the treatment of those who are oppressed.

If you really want to make a difference, it's also important to examine the ways that you could use your privilege in your daily life to help those from marginalized spaces. That would ultimately have the impact on society that we need.

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This article identifies some ways in which you may possess privilege in society and discusses how your privilege can be used to help marginalized groups.

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When I write about the privilege that certain groups have, some people - usually those in the groups I'm writing about - get upset.

There's only one problem: If you get upset when someone points out that you have privilege, that probably means you don't fully understand what privilege is.

Because if you think having privilege means that you're a bad person, or that you haven't had struggles, or that you haven't worked hard for what you have - then I can totally feel why you might be frustrated. If that were the case, then yes, it'd be completely unfair of me to claim that all white people or straight people or men or people of any other dominant group are living easy off their unearned privileges.

But having privilege doesn't mean any of those things.

Unfortunately, common misconceptions about privilege are so widespread that they frequently shut down our opportunities to understand and be accountable for our part in society's injustice.

Some people say that activists shouldn't even use the word " privilege " because it immediately shuts down conversations with potential allies who feel guilty, blamed, or even attacked at the mere mention of the word .

But talking about privilege isn't supposed to be comfortable.

In fact, that discomfort you feel can help you be aware of inequality and check yourself when you're supporting it.

We'll never be able to change the everyday ways we all contribute to injustice if we can't talk about our own privilege - if we automatically reject the idea that it exists because we don't understand it.

Each of us (yes, even the most disenfranchised) has an identity that benefits from the exploitation of another group, so refusing to face your own privilege helps keep oppression in place.

I bet if we examine the discomfort instead of avoiding it, we'll find that some of the uneasiness you feel actually comes from some mistaken ideas about what privilege is and isn't.

To start us off, here's what Sian Ferguson provided as a basic definition of privilege: " a set of unearned benefits given to people who fit into a specific social group. "

From there, the details get more complex. Here's what having privilege means and doesn't mean.

1. Having Privilege Doesn't Mean You're a Bad Person

The fact that you get benefits that other people don't is really messed up. So when someone says you have privilege, it can feel like they're accusing you of deliberately taking from oppressed groups.

And if you're making an effort to actively fight oppression, it feels even worse - like you're trying your best, but people are still accusing you of doing something wrong.

But having privilege isn't about deliberately demanding something - it's just about the circumstances of your life that give you benefits you never asked for.

For instance, I have privilege as a temporarily able-bodied person. I don't want to live in a world where I get accommodations that disabled people don't have access to, but the truth is that I do .

Besides, taking this system of discrimination personally, as if it's just about something I'm doing wrong, would distract from the real point of talking about privilege: taking down oppression.

To be a supportive ally, I can't just focus all the attention on my own guilt - I have to help center the voices of disabled people who spread knowledge about how people like me can do better. Their liberation is what disability rights are all about.

2. Having Privilege Means There's a Whole System at Work

Privilege is not about individuals being bad people, but it is about entire systems that favor some groups and put down others.

These systems - like ableism, white supremacy, and classism - get structural support from laws, the media, and policies that affect our lives every day. Most of us aren't taught that these systems are such an influential part of how the world works.

So finding out that your privilege gives you a head start in achieving these things can be shocking - it challenges what you've always thought to be true.

That's why, to a certain extent, it makes sense that you haven't always been aware of your privilege, and even that it's hard to get used to the idea of having it.

The thing is, I'm not required to be aware of ableism, or even how I participate in it , in order to survive - which is part of my able-bodied privilege. I can do things like find housing that accommodates my physical needs without worrying about potential landlords discriminating against my ability.

But thanks to the hard work of disability advocates, I know that the system of ableism exists - so if I don't commit to learning about and intentionally avoiding it, then I'm probably unintentionally causing harm .

3. Having Privilege Doesn't Mean You Haven't Experienced Oppression in Other Ways

I've heard this time and time again from people learning about their privilege. And actually, I believe it.

Because we're not taught to be aware of our privilege (keeping us in the dark is part of what keeps those oppressive systems in place), and because there are all kinds of systems of oppression working against all of us.

So having one type of privilege doesn't mean you're not oppressed in other ways.

Many poor white folks who learn about white privilege , for example, resist the idea because they've struggled financially - which makes life really hard. It's difficult to grasp how you could've possibly benefited from privilege when all you've known is struggle.

Your white privilege doesn't erase those struggles.

So if you're poor and white, it's true that you don't enjoy as many benefits as wealthy white people do. Unlike someone who can easily buy food, you might be so desperate to feed your family that you risk something illegal like robbing a store.

But that doesn't mean you don't have white privilege - like a smaller chance of being for taking such a risk.

4. Privilege Can Come in More Than One Form - And So Can Oppression

For many people, oppression shows up in more than one form.

For instance, every poor person faces barriers when they're trying to find work, such as the inability to afford the clothes required to fit into .

But a poor person of color also has to deal with that has potential employers racial discrimination that makes a potential employer more likely to call a white applicant back than to give them a chance. A poor woman also faces workplace sexism judge her as less competent and less hirable than a man .

That doesn't mean a poor white man would necessarily have an easy time finding work - because he still has to deal with classism. And he could face other identity-based discrimination too, like ableism, fatphobia, or homophobia.

But systems of oppression don't work in isolation. They work together, under a larger system called kyriarchy.

So for a poor Black woman looking for a job, classism, racism, and sexism all work together against her.

5. Privilege Isn't a Contest to Determine Who's the Most Oppressed

All this talk of multiple forms of oppression may sound to you like a game of the Oppression Olympics.

I'm a queer Black woman - can I claim Oppression Olympic gold?

Just kidding. There are plenty of people who have struggles I don't have, and I have struggles that other groups of people know nothing about.

The point of talking about privilege isn't to determine who " wins " as the most oppressed (that sounds like a losing game to me anyway).

And it's not to say that people who are privileged in some ways don't deserve support.

But expanding the focus to support all people harmed by gender inequality - not just white, able-bodied, cisgender women - isn't about saying those women aren't important, or that their issues aren't real concerns.

It's about saying that white, able-bodied, cisgender women's concerns aren't feminism's only concerns.

So if you're one of those women, you don't have to give up talking about your own experiences with sexism - but you are responsible for navigating your own privilege as part of your justice work.

6. Having Privilege Means You Can Support the Most Vulnerable Among Us to Strengthen Your Own Fight

Intersectional feminism is a great example of how a movement that recognizes privilege is stronger than one that ignores it.

We can learn from this model of growth to check our own personal privilege without erasing our personal struggles.

Take the LGBTQIA+ movement.

Consider what it would be like if some of the resources and attention dedicated to marriage equality supported the most vulnerable LGBTQIA+ people living at the intersections of inequality, instead of the most privileged .

How would we address those issues? We'd have to get to the root causes of the systems that give straight and cisgender people privilege over queer, trans, and non-binary people.

Like shifting cultural beliefs about gender norms, providing resources to people struggling with poverty and discrimination, and offering some of the more than 1,000 benefits available for married people to everyone who needs them, including those who don't want or can't have a legal, traditional marriage.

These changes would help not just queer couples getting married, but also anyone who doesn't perfectly follow the rules society dictates for their gender - as in, all of us.

That's yet another fantastic perk of focusing on justice for everyone, not just people who have privilege.

7. Having Privilege Doesn't Mean You Didn't Work Hard or You Should Feel Bad About Your Good Fortune

Say you're a man who's been successful in a competitive STEM field. You're happy with the money and recognition you've earned, feeling proud of your hard work, and then somebody tells you that your male privilege has helped you get to where you are today.

You cringe at the implications - are they saying you haven't worked hard for what you have? Or that you should feel guilty about your good fortune?

But that doesn't mean that you don't deserve your success. It means that everyone deserves the access you have, regardless of gender.

Nobody should be discouraged or excluded from any field because of who they are.

8. Having Privilege Means A Lot of People Can't Access What You Have, No Matter How Hard They Work

Of course, it takes hard work to gain success in any field, no matter who you are.

But for some people, systems of oppression keep success out of reach even if they do work hard.

If they can overcome those messages to pursue STEM careers, they still face a misogynistic culture that devalues their skills , and treats them as less capable and less intelligent than people treated as masculine.
Some dismiss the idea of privilege by pointing to exceptions to the rule.
But consider the context: In 39 years, US physics doctorates went to 66 African-American women - and 22,172 white men. Williams is quite an exception.

Clearly, it's not only hard work that determines your chances of getting one of those doctorates.

The circumstance of being a white man helps, too. And everyone deserves an equal chance.

9. Having Privilege Doesn't Mean You've Never Been Put Down for That Privileged Identity

It's possible that you've been put down for the very identity that gives you privilege - which is another reason having privilege doesn't mean you've had it easy.

So while Christians are persecuted in some other parts of the world, in the US, they get benefits such as having the vast majority of the politicians leading our country (like 100% of our presidents) share their faith.
But that doesn't necessarily mean you haven't run into difficulties if you're a Christian in this country.
Nobody deserves to be treated that way - and naming the system of Christian privilege doesn't deny that.

10. Having Privilege Refers to Systematic Benefits for Your Identity (But the Same Identity Trait May Still Attract Incidents of Prejudice)

For many people, the natural next question is this: If favoring Christians over non-Christians counts as systemic oppression, then why doesn't mocking Christians mean the same?

Here's why: Systemic oppression works in the context of the dominant culture.

In the US, the dominant religious culture is Christianity.

If someone mocks you for being a Christian, that's absolutely not okay, and it's an example of a person's prejudice against your religion.

Those are examples of the structural support you get from living in a society in which your religion is considered the norm.

Atheists, Muslims, and other non-Christians in the US live in this same society, but their beliefs aren't supported like Christian beliefs are in institutions like the workplace and school.

In fact, they often have to deal with outright discrimination, like TSA profiling of Muslims.

The massively oppressive influence of systemic oppression is what makes privilege worth facing.

11. Having Privilege Doesn't Mean You're Not a Unique Individual

Do you ever feel like someone's making a generalization about you when they say you have privilege?

I mean, the term " white people " refers to a pretty freakin' big group , so talking about white privilege, as if every white person has the same experience, looks like painting a lot of people with a broad brush.

If you're a white ally who does your best to avoid being racist, for instance, you might feel a little insulted about being grouped in with an overtly racist white person who has the same white privilege that you do.

Having privilege doesn't erase your individuality.

There are white people who are well aware of their privilege, and working actively to be accountable to it. There are white people who have no idea what the term " privilege " means. There are white people who know about it and actively reject the idea in favor of racist views.

All have white privilege. But that doesn't mean they're all the same.

12. Having Privilege Means We All Participate in Discriminatory Systems in Different Ways

Okay, I just said privilege isn't about generalizing and now I'm saying we all participate in discriminatory systems - what gives? Let me break it down.

Systems like white supremacy, colonization, and xenophobia require all of our help to keep them going. And studies show that we do all help, whether we mean to or not .

Take xenophobia - the fear of people from other countries - for example. Maybe you were born in the US and you'd never think to attack an immigrant just because they moved here from another country.

Or there was that one time when you didn't say anything when one of your friends told an insensitive joke about "foreigners."
These actions aren't the same as physical violence, but they're some of the ways that even well-meaning members of the dominant US culture are complicit in upholding the system of xenophobia.
Hell, even immigrants can participate in this system.

They do this by policing each other through pressure to conform to US culture, only teaching their children English, and shaming themselves - like the way immigrants of color can internalize racism and doubt their own beauty.

The difference is that when oppressed people participate in dominant systems, they don't get the benefits that the dominant group does.

To address that inequality, we all have to start with ending our own contributions to structural oppression.

13. Pointing Out Privilege Doesn't Mean Hating On the People Who Have It

So many readers hadn't picked up on these ways that society treats men and women differently -

In spite of the erroneous myth that feminism is about hating men , pointing out male privilege and advocating for gender equality isn't about trying to bring men down .

You certainly don't have to hate men to believe that people of all genders deserve respect.

14. Pointing Out Privilege Means Supporting the Privileged Group to Be Fully Human

In general, having privilege seems like a pretty sweet ride - getting access to unearned benefits is a really good deal.

But in the end, the systems upholding privilege hurt all of us, including dominant groups.
This is another reason that pointing out male privilege is quite the opposite of hating men: Gender equality means everyone, including men, gets the support they need.
The truth is, nobody fits perfectly into the gender role society demands for them. The idea that we have to fit gender norms in order to be valuable harms all of us, even men with privilege.

Getting rid of these toxic ideas about gender would help everyone flourish as their true selves, free from society's rigid rules.

15. Having Privilege Doesn't Mean Your Privilege Is Totally Separate from the Ways You're Oppressed

Okay, just when you're getting the hang of how the complicated details of privilege work, I'm throwing you a curve ball. Stay with me here.

People with thin privilege don't have to deal with fatphobia - the public's fear and hatred of fat bodies.

Essentially, a thin woman has privilege because she's closer to society's image of ideal beauty - and she's being objectified, which isn't exactly a good thing.

Having privilege doesn't mean that's not part of your truth.

16. Having Privilege Means Your Benefits Can Be Conditional

It's possible to have privilege in some situations, but not others.

For example, colorism within communities of color gives light-skinned people of color benefits that dark-skinned people don't have. Our society perceives lighter skin as less threatening and more attractive, because it's closer to a Eurocentric ideal of beauty.

But the very same messages that favor people of color with light skin over those of us with dark skin also put down light-skinned people of color in favor of white people.

So colorism within communities of color is a terrible cycle in which nobody wins.

It sure doesn't mean light-skinned people of color have it easy, and recognizing light-skinned privilege isn't the same as claiming that the people who have it never struggle.

17. Having Privilege Doesn't Mean There's Nothing You Can Do About It

Guilt is a feeling that can leave you without taking action.

Recognizing your privilege can bring up hopelessness, the sense that there's nothing you can do about it.

But if you're a white ally and people of color call on you to recognize your privilege, they're saying that there is something you can do about it . You don't have to just simmer in your white guilt .

Instead of guilt, you can respond to your privilege with empathy.

18. Having Privilege Means You Have a Choice About What to Do with It

This stuff is complicated, but the truth is that everyone already has a wealth of knowledge about oppression - because of the lived experience of the ways we're oppressed.

I know about racism, heterosexism, and misogyny because I live with the impact of those systems every day.

Unlike people with white privilege, straight privilege, and male privilege, I don't have a choice about whether I want to face these forms of oppression or not.

When it comes to the ways I have privilege, on the other hand, I do have a choice in the matter. And you do, too.

You could look away, enjoy the benefits of your privilege and ignore the inequalities that harm people who aren't like you.

Or you can step up to the responsibility of using your privilege for good .

Support policies that give everyone access to the resources they need and deserve. Center the voices of people who are marginalized in multiple ways, so they can lead our movements to the roots of the structural oppression that harms us all.

Embrace the uncomfortable realities of what it really means to have privilege. That's the empathy that can help fuel the fire for the change that will, in the end, benefit all of us.

This is hard work - and just like having privilege doesn't mean your life has been easy, I'm not going to say that navigating your privilege will be easy.

But here's one thing I know about you: as a human being, you've struggled, just like every other human has struggled. And somehow, you got through it.

Probably even before you had a name for what you were going through or an understanding of how your struggles relate to oppression.

So I know you can face hard truths. With what you know about your privilege, you can make an effort to thoughtfully navigate your position in the world without causing harm.

Do this with compassion for yourself, and empathy for others, and you'll be well on your way to making the best possible impact on your own life and on the world around you.
Maisha Z. Johnson is the Digital Content Associate and Staff Writer of Everyday Feminism. You can find her writing at the intersections and shamelessly indulging in her obsession with pop culture around the web. Maisha's past work includes Community United Against Violence (CUAV), the nation's oldest LGBTQ anti-violence organization, and Fired Up!, a program of California Coalition for Women Prisoners. Through her own project, Inkblot Arts, Maisha taps into the creative arts and digital media to amplify the voices of those often silenced. Like her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @mzjwords.

Filed Under: Tagged With: Articles, Fem 101 Posts

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What Privilege Really Means (And Doesn't Mean) - To Clear Up Your Doubts Once and For All - Everyday Feminism

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When I write about the privilege that certain groups have, some people - usually those in the groups I'm writing about - get upset. There's only one problem: If you get upset when someone points out that you have privilege, that probably means you don't fully understand what privilege is.

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Through the collaborative platform, students can brainstorm, think and build off  each others responses, learning from their peers.

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What was the Stock Market Crash of 1929? (6 sentences)

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What was the Stock Market Crash of 1929? (6 sentences)

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Stock Market Crash: 1929 & Black Tuesday | HISTORY

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The Stock Market Crash of 1929 ushered in the Great Depression, as some 16 million shares were traded on Black Tuesday, Oct. 29, 1929, wiping out many investors.

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In addition to the Stock Market Crash, what were the other primary factors that caused the Great Depression? (6 sentences)

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In addition to the Stock Market Crash, what were the other primary factors that caused the Great Depression? (6 sentences)

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National Archives, Washington, D.C. (12573155)

The Great Depression of the late 1920s and '30s remains the longest and most severe economic downturn in modern history. Lasting almost 10 years (from late 1929 until about 1939) and affecting nearly every country in the world, it was marked by steep declines in industrial production and in prices (deflation), mass unemployment, banking panics, and sharp increases in rates of poverty and homelessness. In the United States, where the effects of the depression were generally worst, between 1929 and 1933 industrial production fell nearly 47 percent, gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 30 percent, and unemployment reached more than 20 percent. By comparison, during the Great Recession of 2007-09, the second largest economic downturn in U.S. history, GDP declined by 4.3 percent, and unemployment reached slightly less than 10 percent.

There is no consensus among economists and historians regarding the exact causes of the Great Depression. However, many scholars agree that at least the following four factors played a role.

The stock market crash of 1929. During the 1920s the U.S. stock market underwent a historic expansion. As stock prices rose to unprecedented levels, investing in the stock market came to be seen as an easy way to make money, and even people of ordinary means used much of their disposable income or even mortgaged their homes to buy stock. By the end of the decade hundreds of millions of shares were being carried on margin, meaning that their purchase price was financed with loans to be repaid with profits generated from ever-increasing share prices. Once prices began their inevitable decline in October 1929, millions of overextended shareholders fell into a panic and rushed to liquidate their holdings, exacerbating the decline and engendering further panic. Between September and November, stock prices fell 33 percent. The result was a profound psychological shock and a loss of confidence in the economy among both consumers and businesses. Accordingly, consumer spending, especially on durable goods, and business investment were drastically curtailed, leading to reduced industrial output and job losses, which further reduced spending and investment.

Banking panics and monetary contraction. Between 1930 and 1932 the United States experienced four extended banking panics, during which large numbers of bank customers, fearful of their bank's solvency, simultaneously attempted to withdraw their deposits in cash. Ironically, the frequent effect of a banking panic is to bring about the very crisis that panicked customers aim to protect themselves against: even financially healthy banks can be ruined by a large panic. By 1933 one-fifth of the banks in existence in 1930 had failed, leading the new Franklin D. Roosevelt administration to declare a four-day " bank holiday" (later extended by three days), during which all of the country's banks remained closed until they could prove their solvency to government inspectors. The natural consequence of widespread bank failures was to decrease consumer spending and business investment, because there were fewer banks to lend money. There was also less money to lend, partly because people were hoarding it in the form of cash. According to some scholars, that problem was exacerbated by the Federal Reserve, which raised interest rates (further depressing lending) and deliberately reduced the money supply in the belief that doing so was necessary to maintain the gold standard (see below), by which the U.S. and many other countries had tied the value of their currencies to a fixed amount of gold. The reduced money supply in turn reduced prices, which further discouraged lending and investment (because people feared that future wages and profits would not be sufficient to cover loan payments).

The gold standard. Whatever its effects on the money supply in the United States, the gold standard unquestionably played a role in the spread of the Great Depression from the United States to other countries. As the United States experienced declining output and deflation, it tended to run a trade surplus with other countries because Americans were buying fewer imported goods, while American exports were relatively cheap. Such imbalances gave rise to significant foreign gold outflows to the United States, which in turn threatened to devalue the currencies of the countries whose gold reserves had been depleted. Accordingly, foreign central banks attempted to counteract the trade imbalance by raising their interest rates, which had the effect of reducing output and prices and increasing unemployment in their countries. The resulting international economic decline, especially in Europe, was nearly as bad as that in the United States.

Decreased international lending and tariffs. In the late 1920s, while the U.S. economy was still expanding, lending by U.S. banks to foreign countries fell, partly because of relatively high U.S. interest rates. The drop-off contributed to contractionary effects in some borrower countries, particularly Germany, Argentina, and Brazil, whose economies entered a downturn even before the beginning of the Great Depression in the United States. Meanwhile, American agricultural interests, suffering because of overproduction and increased competition from European and other agricultural producers, lobbied Congress for passage of new tariffs on agricultural imports. Congress eventually adopted broad legislation, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act (1930), that imposed steep tariffs (averaging 20 percent) on a wide range of agricultural and industrial products. The legislation naturally provoked retaliatory measures by several other countries, the cumulative effect of which was declining output in several countries and a reduction in global trade.

Just as there is no general agreement about the causes of the Great Depression, there is no consensus about the sources of recovery, though, again, a few factors played an obvious role. In general, countries that abandoned the gold standard or devalued their currencies or otherwise increased their money supply recovered first (Britain abandoned the gold standard in 1931, and the United States effectively devalued its currency in 1933). Fiscal expansion, in the form of New Deal jobs and social welfare programs and increased defense spending during the onset of World War II, presumably also played a role by increasing consumers' income and aggregate demand, but the importance of this factor is a matter of debate among scholars.

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What brought about the worst economic downturn in modern history?

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How did Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal attempt to address the problems of the Depression? 

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How did Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal attempt to address the problems of the Depression? 

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Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal - Student Center | Britannica.com

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Under the leadership of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the American people and the U.S. economy gradually rebounded from the Great Depression.The New Deal policies of the Roosevelt administration brought immediate economic relief as well as reforms in industry, agriculture, finance, and labour, vastly increasing the scope of the federal government's activities.

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Using one of the primary sources, discuss how the conditions in 1930 Germany compare to that of the United States? 

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Using one of the primary sources, discuss how the conditions in 1930 Germany compare to that of the United States? 

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The Great Depression in Berlin - Primary Source 1 

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The Great Depression in Berlin - Primary Source 1 

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British novelist Christopher Isherwood, who lived in Berlin during the worst of the Depression, described its scenes:

“Morning after morning, all over the immense, damp, dreary town and the packing-case colonies of huts in the suburb allotments, young men were waking up to another workless empty day, to be spent as they could best contrive: selling boot-laces, begging, playing draughts in the hall of the Labour Exchange, hanging about urinals, opening the doors of cars, helping with crates in the market, gossiping, lounging, stealing, overhearing racing tips, sharing stumps of cigarette ends picked up in the gutter.”

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The Great Depression in Berlin - Primary Source 2 

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The Great Depression in Berlin - Primary Source 2 

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“Only when things went economically wrong for Germany did the Nazi Party flourish, and vice versa. Their election successes and their membership rose and fell in exact parallel to the unemployment figures. During the years of prosperity between 1924 and 1928 the Nazis as good as disappeared from the political arena. But the deeper the [economy] subsided into crisis, the more firmly did the fascist party sit in the saddle.”

Alfred Sohn-Rethel, economist

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What did economic recovery look like in America during the 30s?

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What did economic recovery look like in America during the 30s?

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When we think of economic disasters, it's usually the Great Depression that pops into mind first-sorry, 2008 financial crisis. The effects and aftermath of the Great Depression had a massive role in shaping the world as we know it, despite the fact that it began nearly a century ago. We all know when it started: Black Tuesday, the infamous the Wall Street crash of October 29, 1929. But despite its dramatic entrance, it would take more than one day for the world to lift itself out of one of the worst financial crises of all time. So, when did the Great Depression end?

Roosevelt and the New Deal

In November 1932, the American people elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt as President of the United States. During his campaign, he promised a "new deal for the American people." This was an oath which he actually began to enact when he entered office in March of 1933. By that time, much of the rest of the world had begun to recover from the Great Depression. However, the US was crawling out of the crisis at a much slower rate.

From 1933 to 1936, the new President spearheaded legislation to get America back on its feet. This included many different programs, public work projects, reforms, and regulations. These programs were meant to target and aid those who'd been hit hardest by the Great Depression: farmers and the unemployed.

The cornerstones of the New Deal were the three Rs: Relief for those who needed it, Recovery of the economy, and Reform to avoid another financial crisis. The government created many new programs and agencies in this time, some of which still exist today. For example, the Social Security act dates back to the New Deal. And, for a while, the New Deal worked-it looked like the US was ready to rise again as a financial power.

It's Not Over Yet

Things were looking good at the start of 1937. While the unemployment rate wasn't recovering as fast as it could have, production, profits, and wages were climbing back to pre-Black Tuesday levels. Sadly, this upward trend was temporary. A major setback came in the form of the 1937-1938 recession, which lasted nearly 13 months. Production dipped quickly and unemployment began to rise again.

Of course, Roosevelt had been able to say that the financial improvement seen before this second recession had been his responsibility. Now, with another downturn at hand, that proud achievement became a liability.

When Did the Recession End?

Roosevelt had to make a choice. He could balance the budget or he could plunge a huge amount of money into a program meant to increase mass purchasing power. Thus far into the New Deal, he'd tried to keep the budget balanced, but things were dire (and so was, one would imagine, his approval rating). In the early months of 1938, he put $5 billion into a spending program. It worked, in a sense. The economy began to recover, and the GDP turned upwards again. However, unemployment would remain a huge problem for Roosevelt and his administration.

When Did the Great Depression End?

A variety of factors ushered in the end of the Great Depression. Lifestyle adjustments made by women and families were definitely a contributing factor that helped close the gap in the final years of the crisis. Many women reacted by putting off having children; others reduced household spending and extended the life of material goods they already owned. Some families worked to become more self-reliant (growing their own food, for example). More women also went to work.

The final nail in the coffin of the Great Depression was the outbreak of World War II. The tensions in Europe that preceded the outbreak of the War led to rearmament policies between 1937 and 1939, which stimulated the European economy. Government spending on the War furthered the recovery. The last lingering effect of the Great Depression in the US, the high unemployment rate, finally recovered completely when they entered the War in 1941. So, while it took years and a combination of efforts, from the small-scale to larger, for the Great Depression to end, it could be said that its definitive end was in December 1941, when the US joined World War II.

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When we think of economic disasters, it's usually the Great Depression that pops into mind first-sorry, 2008 financial crisis. The effects and aftermath of the Great Depression had a massive role in shaping the world as we know it, despite the fact that it began nearly a century ago.

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What did economic recovery look like in Nazi Germany in the 30s?

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What did economic recovery look like in Nazi Germany in the 30s?

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One apparent success of Nazi rule was economic recovery. According to Hitler and his cohort, the Nazi economic recovery would end unemployment and restore German prosperity. Many of the economic successes of the Nazi regime were initiated by huge spending programs on public works and employment schemes, as well as expanding and rearming the military.

Fascist economics

Nazi economic theories were derived in large part from fascism. In fascist economics, resources and production are managed for the benefit of the state rather than to increase profit, wages or standards of living.

Fascist governments control production and manufacturing, dictating what is produced and for what purposes. There is also considerable government control over the allocation of resources, such as land and raw materials. Unlike socialism, fascism is not opposed to private ownership of capital, provided that business owners are co-operative and submit to state control or direction.

In fascist economic systems, such as Mussolini's Italy, economics is considered a partnership between the state and private-owned corporations. Fascism is hostile to unions, contending that workers should put the interests of the state before their own petty needs. Fascists also tend to encourage autarky (economic self-sufficiency) rather than foreign trade.

Hitler's views

Adolf Hitler himself was not particularly interested in economic theory. His speeches of the 1920s contained few references to economic policy, other than vague statements about halting reparations payments and restoring German industry.

Once in power, Hitler played little part in formulating economic policy or contributing to economic recovery. Instead, he relied on a group of close advisors to form policy in line with his broad goals. Some of these advisors were Nazis while others were sympathisers.

One significant advisor was Hjalmar Schacht, a former member of the German Democratic Party (DDP) and president of the Reichsbank during the late 1920s. Another was Robert Ley, who was put in charge of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront (the DAF, or 'German Labour Front') that co-ordinated Germany's workforce. Together, these men implemented economic that achieved impressive results - at least on the surface.

Ending unemployment

At the core of the 'German economic miracle', as Hitler described it, were work programs and re-armament. The Nazis' first priority was reducing or eliminating unemployment. They did this by initiating massive public works programs.

In July 1934, the government formed the Reichsarbeitsdienst (the RAD, or 'National Labour Service'). The RAD attacked unemployment by conscripting out-of-work Germans into vast work teams. RAD workers were given an armband, a shovel and a bicycle then sent to wherever public works, construction, clearance or agricultural labour were needed.

One of the earliest RAD programs was the construction of massive autobahns: hundreds of miles of freeway connecting Germany's major cities. The autobahns had flow-on benefits for the German car industry, which flourished from the mid-1930s. In 1937, Hitler established Volkswagen, a state-sponsored company to produce cheap cars for German families.

Public works

Huge public works schemes, particularly in construction, were organised by RAD and DAF. By 1936, two million Germans were working in construction industries, almost three times the number when Hitler became chancellor in 1933. These projects re-built or renovated many of Berlin's public buildings.

By 1936, there was more or less full employment in Germany - though as might be expected, the Nazis manipulated these statistics to give the appearance of an improving economy.

Women and political opponents were not counted in the unemployment figures, for example. Nor were German Jews, many of whom had been banned from their occupations.

Rearmament

Another important factor in Germany's economic growth was rearmament. After coming to power, Hitler initiated programs to rearm and expand the Reichswehr in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles. He commissioned new battleships and submarines and tasked Hermann Goering with building a new Luftwaffe (air force). In 1935, Hitler ordered the Reichswehr be re-formed as the Wehrmacht. He introduced compulsory military service and increased the size of the army to 550,000 men.

Rearmament became a national economic priority for the Nazi regime - but the goal was problematic because German industries were heavily reliant on imported raw materials.

In 1936, at the Nuremberg party conference, Hitler announced a new economic program called the Four-Year Plan. "Germany must reach full independence from abroad in all raw materials that can be produced by German skills, by our chemistry, by our mechanical industries and our mines", Hitler told party delegates.

This Four-Year Plan was also a secret challenge to Nazi economic managers to initiate Aufrustung (the code-name for rearmament and war preparations). Deputy leader Herman Goering was appointed by Hitler to oversee this.

Innovations and alternatives

The German economy underwent significant changes during this period. Oil and coal refineries were constructed; so too were factories for the recycling, refining and smelting of steel and aluminium. Scientists devised synthetic or artificial substitutes for materials and goods Germany could not produce herself. One of the more successful of these was a technique for synthesising petrol from coal.

Alternatives were even created for the consumer market, in order to reduce imports. Known as ersatz goods, they included replacements for cotton, rubber and heating oil. Coffee was produced from ground roasted acorns; mint and raspberry leaves were used to make tea.

Despite these changes, the nation was still far from self-sufficient. By 1939, Germany was still importing 33 per cent of its raw materials and 20 per cent of its food. Still, enough had been done to facilitate the expansion of the German military and its partial re-armament. Spending on arms doubled in just one year as Goering ordered the retooling of factories to produce weapons, munitions, vehicles and other military equipment.

A historian's view:
"Ideology played a secondary role in Hitler's economic policies. For reasons of expediency, Hitler did not attempt to nazify the economy. Instead, he left the actual running of the economy to experts in business and industry, while instituting a large amount of control from above to force cooperation and compliance with his economic objectives. So long as they cooperated, big business and industry profited by this relationship. In essence, the German economy under Hitler was neither totally free nor totally controlled."
Joseph Bendersky, historian

1. Hitler played only a minor role in the economic recovery of Germany. He had little interest in economic policy and instead relied on advisors and bureaucrats.

2. Employment and rearmament were the twin backbones of this economic recovery. The Nazis addressed the first by creating large public works programs, such as autobahns, to reduce unemployment.

3. Hitler also ordered the expansion and rearmament of the military, the construction of battleships and submarines and the creation of an air force, all in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles.

4. German industry remained reliant on imported raw materials. An attempt to make Germany self-sufficient and end its reliance on imports was only partly successful.

5. In 1936, Hitler ordered a Four-Year Plan, overseen by Herman Goering, in order to further militarise production and prepare for war.

Citation information
Title: "The Nazi economic recovery"
Authors: Jennifer Llewellyn, Jim Southey, Steve Thompson
Publisher: Alpha History
URL: https://alphahistory.com/nazigermany/nazi-economic-recovery/
Date published: July 16, 2020
Date accessed: March 28, 2021
Copyright: The content on this page may not be republished without our express permission. For more information on usage, please refer to our Terms of Use.

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One apparent success of Nazi rule was economic recovery. According to Hitler and his cohort, the Nazi economic recovery would end unemployment and restore German prosperity. Many of the economic successes of the Nazi regime were initiated by huge spending programs on public works and employment schemes, as well as expanding and rearming the military.

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What did economic recovery look like in Victoria during COVID-19 pandemic?

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What did economic recovery look like in Victoria during COVID-19 pandemic?

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What were cultural and social effects of the Great Depression?

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What were cultural and social effects of the Great Depression?

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The Great Depression

The Great Depression has not only affected the economic life of Americans but also changed their cultural and social lives.

People Unemployed queued in line to get food during the Great Depression: Source

The Great Depression was unparalleled regarding its far-reaching effects on every aspect of American life. It not only destroyed the economic system of America which was inherently weak and fragile but also gave them a chance to rebuild it anew along the modern line.

The Depression awakened the slumbering minds of the policymakers and provided them with the leadership of Franklin Delano Roosevelt to spearhead the extraordinary political and economic reforms that saved the country from falling apart.

Despite the devastating impacts of the Great Depression that crumbled the fabric of American society; it gave rise to popular cultural, social and literary trends. The emergence of cinema, the film industry and the new form of art, music and literature became the vehicles of presenting and spreading the new American traditions and values.

Hopelessness associated with many vices swept American society when the Great Depression reached its height. Malnutrition, suicide, and poverty were on the rise to avoid the pains of the time. People took to alcoholism to find an escape from the harsh realities of life. Desperate women took to prostitution to pay their bills.

It was a time of great uncertainty and depression. The recession wiped out many great businesses, while paved the way for the emergence of others. Factories couldn't afford to pay their workers. Consequently, they were laid off. To put food on the table, people resorted to petty thefts and the crime rate rose rapidly.

The priority of health and education receded backwards. They struggled for bare survival. Doctors were sorted out in the direst consequences and education was only limited to male children as they were thought to be the soon earning hands of the family.

It was an era that reshaped the American consciousness and gave them a new look at life. Some of the visible Changes are recounted as under.

The loss of the job compelled many Americans to leave their homes. They couldn't pay the rent and were out in the streets - homeless. It was intolerable for many, as they had never been homeless. So, they did anything to keep a roof over their head.

Homeless people made shacks from anything they could find. They used almost anything that could shelter them. The shelters they made were commonly known as Hoovervilles.

The name, Hoovervilles, was given to the shacks because they thought that this condition is brought by the then-president Herbert Hoover. The Americans believed that Hoover's response to the depression was slow and not befitting. And after all, someone was to be blamed for the recession, the Americans blamed their president.

The rate of unemployment skyrocketed during the Great Depression. Millions of people lost their jobs. The result was that they couldn't pay the rent of their houses, or support their family and even feed themselves.

People flocked together in single apartments, and affording a separate home was difficult. The family needed the money of everyone to meet the requirements.

The loss of jobs and the inability of men to feed their families have created a psychological rift in their minds. They felt shame and thought that they have been disgraced if the situation compelled their women and children forced to work to support the family.

Women were also accused of snatching jobs from men. They too were fired if the employer would find that they were married.

During the Great Depression, the Great Plains were hit hard by both drought and fierce dust storms. The storms ran wild on the overgrazed fields and destroyed the meagre crops that were the only hope of the small farmers.

Before the dust bowl, the farmers borrowed money from banks to buy seeds upon the condition of paying back with interest when their crops came in. The dust bowl damaged the crops that reduced the ability of the small farmers to feed themselves; let alone pay their debts back.

The dust bowl and the drought pushed the small farmers to the abyss of despair. Thus, suicide was a common practice to put an end to their miseries. Some of the small farmers fled to other states to avoid paying back.

The Great Depression robbed jobs from the million. When they were unable to pay rent, eat good and live in tight quarters, they faced starvation and illness.

It simply meant that those who couldn't afford to pay rent were either living in Hoovervilles or families together in one apartment. They had no access to clean water, no bathrooms, and dirt everywhere.

In such situations, one could easily fall prey to illness and diseases. Children were the hard-hit as they suffered long-term malnutrition from a poor diet. They were more prone to get easily ill and to suffer longer.

The recession also affected the demographic trends. The idea of getting married was scary as it incurred money, which was the scarcest commodity.

The lack of jobs and money resulted in delayed marriages. Males didn't want to marry before getting a job. The males focused more on the career than family making.

In the 1930s, divorce rates also dropped drastically as it was expensive. Those who couldn't afford it chose "Poor man's divorce". They simply abandoned their marriages and ran away from them.

People also used family planning techniques to control birth control and thus to avoid extra expenses incurred by more children. Birth rates fall sharply and reached the lowest during the Depression.

The decade of 1930 saw a mass migration. People left their hearth and homes to find opportunities in other places. The population of the Great Plains migrated to Arizona and California. Rural New England and upstate New York also lost most of the population to other states in search of new life.

The migrants were most of the time the younger population who left their families ran away to make their destiny somewhere else. Almost 600,000 travelled without tickets and were caught in hitch riding during Depression.

Trends of popular culture were also changing increasingly. The Great Depression also saw the rise of the film industry and classic movies like Gone with the Wind, Frankenstein, and It happened One Night, were debuted.

Despite the financial difficulties, almost every two out of five Americans watched a movie per week. The Hollywood industry flourished in the 1930s. Films were a tremendous source of entertainment.

Along with the film industry, radio also flourished in those days. People who owned a radio during the time listened to radio extensively. President Roosevelt used radio extensively to convey his hope and optimism to a wider audience. He used his periodic 'Fireside Chats' programs on the radio to keep people informed of his policies and to instil hope and optimism in them.

Photography was also on the rise. Dorothea Lange, a professional photographer of the time, used her photography to depict the sad picture of the Great Depression.

Despite the pains and miseries, the Americans loved dancing and music. The Blues was an apt musical form that flourished and gained immense popularity during the Great Depression.

Along with the Blues, gospel, swing jazz, and folk music also saw a rise and ingrained in the American Culture.

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Cultural And Social Effects of the Great Depression on American Life

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The Great Depression was unparalleled regarding its far-reaching effects on every aspect of American life. It not only destroyed the economic system of America which was inherently weak and fragile but also gave them a chance to rebuild it anew along the modern line.

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How did the prevailing economic and social circumstances of the Great Depression impact American society?

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How did the prevailing economic and social circumstances of the Great Depression impact American society?

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The Great Depression (1929-1939) was the worst economic downturn in modern history. The preceding decade, known as the " Roaring Twenties," was a time of relative affluence for many middle- and working-class families. As the economy boomed, new innovations allowed for more leisure time and the creation of a consumer society. But the economic depression that followed those boon years profoundly affected the daily life of American families, in ways large and small.

Even the affluent faced severe belt-tightening.

Four years after the 1929 stock market crash, during the bleakest point of the Great Depression, about a quarter of the U.S. workforce was unemployed. Those that were lucky enough to have steady employment often saw their wages cut or their hours reduced to part-time.

Even upper-middle-class professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, saw their incomes drop by as much as 40 percent. Families who had previously enjoyed economic security suddenly faced financial instability or, in some cases, ruin.

The average American family lived by the Depression-era motto: "Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without." Many tried to keep up appearances and carry on with life as close to normal as possible while they adapted to new economic circumstances.

Households embraced a new level of frugality in daily life. They kept kitchen gardens, patched worn-out clothes and passed on trips to the movies as they privately struggled to retain ownership of a home or automobile.

Potlucks and 'thrift gardens' were the norm.

Women's magazines and radio shows taught Depression-era homemakers how to stretch their food budget with casseroles and one-pot meals. Favorites included chili, macaroni and cheese, soups, and chipped beef on toast.

Potlucks, often organized by churches, became a popular way to share food and a cheap form of social entertainment.

Many families strived for self-sufficiency by keeping small kitchen gardens with vegetables and herbs. Some towns and cities allowed for the conversion of vacant lots into community "thrift gardens" where residents could grow food.

Between 1931 and 1932, Detroit's thrift garden program provided food for about 20,000 people. Experienced gardeners could be seen helping former office workers-still dressed in white button-down shirts and slacks-to cultivate their plots.

Board games and miniature golf courses thrived.

The average American family didn't have much extra income to spend on leisure activities during the 1930s. Before the Depression, going to the movie theater was a major pastime. Fewer Americans could afford this luxury after the stock market crashed-so more than one-third of the cinemas in America closed between 1929 and 1934.

Often, people chose to spend time at home. Neighbors got together to play cards, and board games such as Scrabble and Monopoly-both introduced during the 1930s-became popular.

The radio also provided a free form of entertainment. By the early 1930s, many middle-class families owned a home radio. Comedy programs such as Amos 'n' Andy, soap operas, sporting events and swing music distracted listeners from everyday struggles.

Mini-golf became a Depression-era craze. More than 30,000 miniature golf links sprang up across the country during the 1930s. Prices ranged from 25 to 50 cents per round.

Women entered the workforce in increasing numbers.

Some families maintained a middle-class income by adding an extra wage earner. Despite widespread unemployment during the Depression years, the number of married women in the workforce actually increased.

Some people criticized married women for taking jobs when so many men were out of work, though women often took clerical or service industry positions that weren't seen as socially acceptable for men at the time.

Women found work as secretaries, teachers, telephone operators and nurses. But in many cases, employers paid women workers less than their male counterparts.

Families on government support were less stigmatized.

The New Deal programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt meant the expansion of government into people's everyday lives after 1933. Many Americans received some level of financial aid or employment as a result of New Deal programs.

Prior to the Great Depression, most Americans had negative views of government welfare programs and refused to go on welfare. In some towns, local newspapers published the names of welfare recipients.

While attitudes toward government assistance began to change during the Great Depression, going on welfare was still viewed as a painful and humiliating experience for many families.

Economic hardship caused family breakdowns.

The stress of financial strain took a psychological toll-especially on men who were suddenly unable to provide for their families. The national suicide rate rose to an all-time high in 1933.

Marriages became strained, though many couples could not afford to separate. Divorce rates dropped during the 1930s though abandonments increased. Some men deserted their families out of embarrassment or frustration: This was sometimes called a "poor man's divorce."

It's estimated that more than two million men and women became traveling hobos. Many of these were teens who felt they had become a burden on their families and left home in search of work.

Riding the rails-illegally hopping on freight trains-became a common, yet dangerous way to travel. Those traveling the country in search of work often camped in " Hoovervilles," shantytowns named after Herbert Hoover, president during the early years of the Great Depression.

Crime was mythologized, but this was largely hype.

Famous outlaw duo Bonnie and Clyde went on a two-year bank robbing spree across America, while in New Jersey, famous aviator Charles Lindbergh 's toddler son was abducted, held for ransom and then murdered.

High-profile events like these, broadcast through radio announcements and in newspaper headlines, contributed to a sense of lawlessness and crime in the Great Depression, stoking fears that hard times had created a crime wave. But this was more hype than reality.

Violent crimes initially spiked during the first few years of the Great Depression, but nationwide, rates of homicides and violent crimes began to fall sharply between 1934 and 1937-a downward trend that continued until the 1960s.

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Life for the Average Family During the Great Depression | HISTORY

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The Great Depression, the worst economic downturn in modern history, profoundly affected the daily life of American families in ways large and small.

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How did the prevailing economic and social circumstances of the Great Depression impact American society?

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How did the prevailing economic and social circumstances of the Great Depression impact American society?

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Great Depression, What Was Life Actually Like

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Create a Venn Diagram comparing the economic and social effects of the Great Depression and COVID-19.

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Create a Venn Diagram comparing the economic and social effects of the Great Depression and COVID-19.