The Great Depression & Women
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The Great Depression was the single worst economic crisis ever experienced by the United States. In President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's own words, by 1933 fully one-third of the nation's citizens were "ill-housed, ill-clad, and ill-nourished". Roosevelt's was a presidency sired in crisis and sustained in war, and the very fabric of American society could not but be fundamentally altered as these extraordinary years progressed (Heale 2001, 16). One such fundamental change pertained to the American family. The Great Depression would forever reform the ways in which women in America were perceived, utilized, and ultimately, needed. Eliciting deep wellsprings of resourcefulness and ingenuity, the Great Depression demanded that women assume a more prominent role by helping to hold aloft a faltering economy as well as the dashed hopes of a nation. Though sexism and discrimination would beleaguer their efforts, women would nonetheless emerge from this troubled period stronger, more independent, and more respected than perhaps they had ever been before in American history. When President Roosevelt was inaugurated in 1933, roughly one quarter of the labor force was unemployed. Suicide rates had likewise risen by a quarter, everyday Americans were going hungry, and many families had suffered income losses of more than thirty-five percent (Heale 2001, 17). The labor force was segregated at this time, and this phenomenon both helped and harmed women workers. Because une
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ily at home while toiling inventively for goods and pennies. In this sense, women were performing a valuable double-duty for the sake of the American family throughout this period (Helmbold 1997).
When these stratagems proved insufficient, the last resort for women during the Great Depression was government relief. Throughout the early 1930s, women seeking government relief could expect grocery vouchers, some used clothing, or perhaps a small bit of coal. Cash payments were eventually made available under President Roosevelt, though these were only given out to "proven" heads of households; this meant that men were nearly always eligible, while women were asked to meet a means test and a motherhood test before receiving aid. At this time, the stigma of welfare was so negative that scores of women preferred to die of hunger and cold before receiving government assistance (Helmbold 1997).
As it has been shown, history appears to teach that the plight of the average woman during the Great Depression was in many ways more difficult than that of the average man, though hardship of this magnitude is admittedly difficult to measure. It should not surprise that this was the case, as it is incredibly simplełand redundantłto i
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Eyewitness History, President Roosevelt, Nineteenth Amendment, Depression Era, Delano Roosevelt's, Dubofsky Burwood, Era Deal, Era Fortunately, Fiction American, Ma Joad, depression era, era deal, law labor progressive, progressive era deal, progressive era, women depression, helmbold 1997, protecting women, gender law, law labor, labor progressive era, labor progressive, gender law labor, internet available, 2 december 2004,
Approximate Word count = 1933
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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