in this respect that women were just as devastated by the Great Depression as were their male counterparts (Dubofsky and Burwood 1990).
Furthermore, women were forced to bear an emotional burden that is difficult to quantify. Many unwed couples during the Great Depression delayed marriage and many unhappily married couples delayed divorce; in all cases, a profound lack of money prevented men and women from procuring for themselves what were perceived to be better lives. The effects were noticeable. Birth rates dropped sharply, and for the first time it appeared as though the American population was actually in decline. Additionally, many men found themselves relying on their wivesùand even their childrenùto make ends meet. This collective loss of power, control, and self-esteem was often emasculating and generally shame-inducing; as a result, family abandonment by men became more common. In 1940, it was reported that one and a half million married women had been abandoned by their husbands, and many of now were left to provide for their children alone (Eyewitness to History 2000).
Because women were relied upon so heavily to sustain the family throughout the Great Depression, the loss of a job did not mean that job-related activity would cease. Operating from within a patriarchal society that was heavily biased towards coming to the aid of white men at the expense of all others, women of all races were forced to take whatever work was available to them. For this it may be argued that the New Deal, though oft lauded for its equanimity and effectiveness, nonetheless created opportunities that disproportionately benefited white men. The scramble to stay employed for women meant a seemingly perpetual trend of ôtrading downö on the job
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