Family During The Great Depression, By Eric Rauchway

Family is a word not positively related with the Great Depression. The only time you would hear family mentioned is when learning about the struggling and pain they endured. If you were to meet a family during the Great Depression, it wouldn't be much of one. The normal family would probably consist of a mother and at least one child. Families were few and far between because of fathers and children leaving home, few had two working parents, minimal support and psychological problems.

In the Eric Rauchway article he stated that “...Sometimes men who left to look for work never came back…” (p 300) This had a dismal effect because when he left, he left his children and wife to fend off the catastrophe themselves. If it was at all possible, the

mother would try to find work to provide for her kids. Sometimes if children were independent enough, they too would leave in the desire of a better future. Unfortunately, this happened all too often during the Great Depression.

If the father still was around, he would have trouble even finding work.

Again Rauchway states “... Your father coming home with the toolbox on his shoulder… meant the job was over.” (p 300) If the father was out of work, the family was out of an income. When they were out of an income, they had minimal resources. Only very few families had two paychecks supporting the family because women were highly unlikely to acquire and keep a job.

Rauchway again stated “The salaries of employees have been twice reduced…” (p 299) As I had said many had little to no income, this means food was a sparse material. Many had died because of the lack of food they had. Many wanted to refuse the soup lines because of their independence, but some just had to concede. If you did not go to the soup lines, chances are you did not make it. Children had to deal with the hand they were dealt in the Depression. If you were fortunate you got a meal, for some they were fed only just twice a week.

The mental effect was possibly even worse in this period of time. Schools quality declined and when this happened knowledge fell with it. People just had issues with how the world was going and couldn't handle the pressure. Some issues people had worried about were where your next meal will be from, where your husband or father went and when he would

return.

Overall, family was in a deplorable condition during the Great Depression. The problems all revolved around leaving home, barely working parents, minimal support and the mentality of problems. These were the issues with family during this time. Unfortunately, “family” wasn't what we know as “family” today.