1950's

Question 1

the large increase in the number of babies born in proportion to the size of the population that took place after World War II and lasted until 1964

Answer 1

Baby Boom

Question 2

a person who works in a factory or at a skilled trade, usually for an hourly wage

Answer 2

Blue-Collar Worker

Question 3

a measure of the differences in the price of goods and services over time

Answer 3

Cost-of-Living Index

Question 4

President Harry S. Truman’s domestic program, which he began promoting in 1945 with such intentions as increasing the minimum wage, increasing aid to agriculture and education, and enacting a national heath insurance program, only some of which Congress approved

Answer 4

Fair Deal

Question 5

an increase in the supply of money or credit relative to the availability of goods and services, resulting in generally higher prices

Answer 5

Inflation

Question 6

authorized by Congress in 1956, a network of highways that connect major cities around the country; all highways are built under the same guidelines so that each has at least two lanes in each direction, periodic rest areas for travelers, and no traffic lights or railroad crossings

Answer 6

Interstate Highway System

Question 7

the first planned community in the nation, built between 1947 and 1951 in Long Island, New York, to relieve the housing shortage of the Great Depression and World War II years

Answer 7

Levittown

Question 8

the state of being impoverished and dependent on public assistance for survival

Answer 8

Pauperism

Question 9

a method of encouraging the purchase of products in which businesses try to make what a consumer buys today seem obsolete, or out-of-date, after a fixed period of time

Answer 9

Planned Obsolescence

Question 10

the minimum amount of income one needs to meet basic needs

Answer 10

Poverty Line

Question 11

income measured by the number of goods and services it will buy, adjusted for inflation

Answer 11

Real Income

Question 12

a possession that serves as a sign of wealth and prestige

Answer 12

Status Symbol

Question 13

the “belt” of warm-weather states that stretches across the southern third of the United States, from Florida to California

Answer 13

Sunbelt

Question 14

a law passed by Congress, though President Harry S. Truman vetoed it, in 1947 to limit the power of unions

Answer 14

Taft-Hartley Act

Question 15

a person who works in an office-based profession that does not involve manual labor and that requires a certain amount of formal dress, usually for a set salary

Answer 15

White-Collar Worker

Question 16

people in society who work but earn wages too low to lift them out of poverty

Answer 16

Working Poor