By Lacey Schmidt

Causes There were many different groups of people that believed in separate causes of the depression. Here are a few:  Historians- bank failures and stock market crash  Economists- actions by the US Federal Reserve that contracted the money supply and Britain's decision to return to the Gold Standard*  Structural point of view- breakdown of international trade, under- consumption and over-investment by bankers and industrialists and incompetence by government officials.  Monetarist point of view- mistakes by authorities and shrinking money supplies  Other- labor market policies, money supply, banking decisions and capitalism  Gold standard- a monetary standard under which the basic unit of currency is defined by a stated quantity of gold

Statistics  The Economy US Gross Domestic Product (in current dollars) in 1929: $103.6 billion in 1930: $91.2 in 1931: $76.5 in 1932: $58.7 in 1933: $56.4  Growth of Government Government Expenditures and Investments (in current dollars) in 1929: $9.4 billion in 1930: $10.0 in 1931: $9.9 in 1932: $8.7  Unemployment Average rate of unemployment (percent) in 1929: 3.2% in 1930: 8.9% in 1931: 16.3% in 1932: 24.1% in 1933: 24.9% in 1934: 21.7% in 1935: 20.1% in 1936: 16.9% in 1937: 14.3% in 1938: 19.0% in 1939: 17.2%

Solutions  President Roosevelt created several programs designed to solve the unemployment and poverty of the Great Depression. There were Public Works Project in every State. The Civilian Conservation Corps was established ( ) to perform tasks like planting five billion trees as windbreaks and watershed and erosion projects. Each person who signed up for the Corps (18 to 25 year olds and Veterans of any age) was paid 30 dollars per month for their labor with 25 dollars of that amount being paid directly to their families. The US Army was in charge of feeding, clothing, housing and medical care.  Another program, the Work Projects Administration (WPA), had a different pay scale which ranged from 19 to 94 dollars per month. It included seven percent of its total budget for the arts and about 225,000 concerts were performed. Projects under the WPA included recording oral histories, documenting and recording folk songs and music, and the creation of actual works of art. They also created many of the Veterans Cemeteries.  Social Security was introduced, many entered the military and a lot of the unemployed became a part of the Federal government's work force. When WWII began the focus shifted to a different priority and Defence plants had absorbed the formerly indigent population into a country of full employment.

Effect on the Average Family  At the time of the Great Depression there were no antibiotics, and no vaccinations. Children routinely caught childhood illnesses like whopping cough, polio, measles and died from them. With less food, nutrition was poor and people were more susceptible to illness.  Many rich people felt no impact at all, and were oblivious to the suffering of others. Up to forty percent of the country never faced real hardship during those October 1930 years. But most were touched by it in some way. The unemployment rate hovered close to twenty-five percent.  Men finding themselves out of work now had to rely on their wives and children in some cases to help make ends meet. Many did not take this loss of power as the primary decision maker and breadwinner very well. Some became so frustrated that they just walked out on their families completely. A 1940 survey revealed that 1.5 million married women had been abandoned by their husbands.  Women found their status enhanced by their new roles. Left with little choice, they went against the historic opposition to married women working outside the home to help support their families. Black women especially found it easier to obtain work than their husbands, working as domestic servants, clerks, textiles workers and other occupations. This employment increased their status and power in the home, gaining them a new voice in domestic decisions.

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