2. The benefits of welfare to black workers and their families Flashcards
Why did many reconsider the role of government in relation to welfare payments in the Great Depression?
Extreme poverty amongst the elderly, poor and unemployed.
What was FERA?
Federal Emergency Relief Administration:
- Est. 1933 - to help unemployed through relief and job creation
How much did FERA spent to help the unemployed?
Under Harry Hopkins, spent over $4 billion to help the unemployed through relief and work projects
What were the reasons for limited effectiveness of FERA?
1) Many state authorities considered poverty result of idleness and were reluctant to assist the unemployed (the Governor of Georgia recommended the unemployed be given dose of castor oil
2) FERA’s funds limited - 1935 - paid an average of $25 per month to needy family - the subsistence wage around $100
3) FERA officials often overburdened (many had to deal with thousands of needy workers)
How, in some ways did FERA serve black Americans well?
- Prior to New Deal - state and local welfare agencies had usually ignored black needs - 1/3 of AAs benefitted from FERA
- 1935 - 3.5 million received help from it
How did FERA negatively impact black Americans?
- Distribution of FERA relief frequently characterised by discriminatory practices at local level
- White officials in South made it harder for black unemployed to get on the welfare rolls - paid black welfare recipients less than whites - argued AAs had lower standard of living (so could survive on less)
- Atlanta - monthly relief checks of $32.66 to whites - $19.29 to blacks
- Some rural areas in Georgia and Mississippi - AA relief payments 30% lower than whites
Closed down in 1935
When and what was the Social Security Act?
August 1935:
- Insurance for the unemployed and pensions for elderly were to be funded by contributions from employers and employees
- Act established aid programmes for physically disadvantages and families with dependent children
What were the social security payments under the Social Security Act?
Low:
- Pensions ranged from $10 to $85 monthly - depending on how much recipient had contributed to scheme - 1st payment not made until 1940
- Unemployment benefit = $18 maximum - and for 16 weeks only
- To families w/ dependent children - varied according to wealth, inclination and generosity of each individual state
- E.g. - Massachusetts - paid poor children $61 monthly, Mississippi paid $8
How did the Social Security Act impact black Americans?
- Many were waiters, cooks, janitors, domestic and farm workers - perhaps most needy workers - but were excluded from social security coverage
- But wasn’t necessarily deliberate act of racism - countries other than US had similar exclusions - such employment often seasonal or temporary
- Considered that employers would struggle to pay contributions + unmanageable collection problems
What impact did the American Medical Association have on New Deal measures?
- Vehemently opposed health insurance - ensured it was excluded from New Deal measures
What did top NAACP lawyer Charles Houston say about the Social Security Act?
- That it was ‘like a sieve with holes just big enough for majority of Negroes to fall through’
What was the significance of the Social Security Act, regardless of its impact on black Americans?
Represented a radical change in role of the federal govt - created the first national system of benefits.
When and what was the FHA?
Federal Housing Administration - June 1934
- To help homeowners pay the lower-interest, long-term mortgages provided by govt since June 1933 for those buying new homes
How did the measures of the FHA impact black Americans?
- Proved little help to the impoverished inner-city areas where many black families lived - federal govt refused to guarantee mortgages for houses purchased by AA families in white neighbourhoods
- Federal housing loans deliberately preserved the racial composition of neighbourhoods
What and when was the Wagner-Steagall National Housing Act?
Sept 1937
- Aimed to build new low-rent housing to replace slums, but Congress underfunded it, and only 160,000 homes had been built in 1941
