The standard of living, 1917-41

Question 1

Life expectancy of a white man in 1915:

Answer 1

48 years

Question 2

Life expectancy of a non-white man in 1915:

Answer 2

33 years

Question 3

Life expectancy of a white man in 1980:

Answer 3

74.4 years

Question 4

Life expectancy of a non-white man in 1980

Answer 4

69.5 years

Question 5

Car ownership in 1919 and 1929:

Answer 5

1919 - 9 million
1929 - 26 million

Question 6

Radio ownership in 1920 and 1929:

Answer 6

1920 - 60,000
1929 - 10 million

Question 7

Telephone ownership in 1920 and 1930:

Answer 7

1920 - 15.3 million
1930 - 20 million

Question 8

Refrigerator ownership in 1920 and 1930:

Answer 8

1920 - 1% of households
1930 - 8% of households

Question 9

Who did not experience these increases in living standards?

Answer 9

Many of the 30 million who worked on farms did not

Question 10

How many rural American homes had electricity?

Answer 10

1/2

Question 11

Unemployment rate in the 1920s:

Answer 11

4-9%

Question 12

What did a 1928 report find?

Answer 12

60% of families had less than the $2,000/year income necessary to buy the basic necessities

Question 13

Social welfare programmes in the 1920s:

Answer 13

There were no social welfare programmes - no pensions, no unemployment pay and no free medical care

Question 14

In 1920, how many people owned homes?

Answer 14

6.7 million people

Question 15

In 1920, how many people rented?

Answer 15

12.9 million people

Question 16

In 1940, how many people owned homes?

Answer 16

15.2 million people

Question 17

In 1940, how many people had electric light?

Answer 17

78.7%

Question 18

Difference in cooking methods in 1940 and 1960:

Answer 18

1940 - 48.8% cooked with gas & only 5.4% with electricity
1960 - 30% of homes cooked with electricity

Question 19

People who did not have heating in 1940 and 1960:

Answer 19

1940 - 11%
1960 - 1.7%

Question 20

Radio ownership in 1940 & 1960:

Answer 20

1940 - 82.8% of homes
1960 - 92% of homes

Question 21

By 1929 what percentage of goods were brought from retail chains?

Answer 21

21.9%

Question 22

USA retail chain that grew:

Answer 22

J.C. Penney

Question 23

In the 1940s, what percentage on income was spent on going out?

Answer 23

15.1%

Question 24

Rural Electrification Administration (REA):

Answer 24

Roosevelt set up in 1935 to get electricity to rural areas

Question 25

In 1939 how many miles of new power lines did the REA create?

Answer 25

Over 100,000

Question 26

What percentage of homes had a washing machine, a fridge and a toaster?

Answer 26

over 50%

Question 27

Government spending on healthcare in 1917, 1930 and 1940:

Answer 27

1917 - $3 million
1930 - $11 million
1940 - $32 million

Question 28

Number of children aged 14-17 going to school in 1917, 1929 and 1940:

Answer 28

1917 - 27%
1929 - 51%
1940 - 73%

Question 29

In 1929, what percentage of national income in the top 5% of the population have, compared to when the New Deal ended in 1938?

Answer 29

1929 - 30%
1938 - 26%

Question 30

Who suffered the most during the depression?

Answer 30

Rural communities

Question 31

New Deal’s Home Owners’ Loan Corporation:

Answer 31

By 1936, the agency had refinanced over 1 million mortgages, preventing an estimated 800,000 foreclosures.

Question 32

National Labor Relations Act:

Answer 32

Roosevelt passed in 1935 and it established the legal right of private-sector workers to form and join labor unions, engage in collective bargaining, and strike.

Question 33

Statistic that shown unionised workers gained more income that non-unionised workers dur to the National Labor Relations Act:

Answer 33

Unionized workers earn an average of 11.2% more than non-unionized workers