Effects of the Depression Flashcards
What happened when people lost their jobs?
They fell behind in their mortgage repayments so were forced to sell their homes or hand them over to the bank.
What happened to tenants?
They were evicted often violently.
What happened to these homeless people?
Thousands were taken in by relatives, but a vast number had nowhere to go. They ended up on the streets, homeless and destitute.
Where did homeless people live?
In shelters made of packing cases ad corrugated iron. Others slept on park benches or in warehouses.
Why did some people get themselves arrested?
Because jails provided beds and foods.
How many people sold apples on the streets of New York in 1932?
6000.
What else did people sell?
Ties, vegetables and rubber falls.
How many of New York’s 29,000 manufacturing firms had closed down?
10,000.
How much of the city’s workforce were unemployed?
1 in 3.
How much had car production been cut by?
80%.
How much had road construction fallen by?
92%.
How much did the average hourly wage fall by in manufacturing industries?
From 59 cents in 1926 to 44 cents in 1933.
Why was the poverty so great?
America did not have a social security system.
What did private charities and wealthy individuals do?
Set up soup kitchens and cheap meal centres to feed the hungry.
What proportion of children were malnourished?
1/5.
