The war and the economy

Question 1

What happened to unemployment rates between 1940 and 1944?

Answer 1

Decreased from 13.9% to 1.2%.

Question 2

What % of women were employed by 1945?

Answer 2

60%

Question 3

How much employment did black Americans find in federal govt?

Answer 3

rose from 50,000 in 1939 to 200,000 in 1944.

Question 4

What happened to GNP between 1939 and 1945?

Answer 4

Rose from 91.3 billion to 166.6 billion.

Question 5

What happened to the number of teens in the workforce during the war?

Answer 5

Rose from 900,000 in 1940 to 3 million in 1944.

Question 6

What attitude did teenagers have to education in the war years?

Answer 6

Felt it was irrelevant. Numbers in high schools fell from 6.6 to 5.6 million due to wanting to contribute to the war effort and being encouraged by employers to do so.

Question 7

What tax rates were those earning over $200,000 facing during the war?

Answer 7

94%

Question 8

What happened to the % of national income taken by the richest 1% during the war years?

Answer 8

Decreased from 13.4% to 6.7%

Question 9

What happened to prices and wages during the war years?

Answer 9

Prices rose by 28% and wages by 40%.

Question 10

How much aircraft and tanks did the US produce between 1941 and 45?

Answer 10

86,000 aircraft and 290,000 tanks.

Question 11

What happened to farm incomes between 1941 and 45?

Answer 11

Grew by 250%

Question 12

What happened to the issue of overproduction during the war?

Answer 12

It was negated due to large demand from abroad meaning America was the world’s largest exporter of food.

Question 13

How many women entered the workforce in 1944 alone?

Answer 13

6.5 million

Question 14

What % of teenage boys found employment?

Answer 14

66%

Question 15

What issues arose due to the growth of teenagers working?

Answer 15

Growth of disrespectful behaviour and unsocial behaviour. Joined gangs such as Zoot suiters and were blamed for increases in crime.

Question 16

What happened to labour union membership during the war?

Answer 16

Grew from 10.5 million to 14.75 million.

Question 17

What strikes did take place during the war?

Answer 17

Coal miner strike where 400,000 went on strike for 12 weeks.

Question 18

What divisions did strikes cause within America?

Answer 18

People saw it as un-American and unfair to the workers who were fighting on the front lines for America and only earning $30 a month when strikers for asking for $10 more a week.

Question 19

What did the Smith-Connally War Labour Disputes act do?

Answer 19

Allowed the federal government to take control of any essential industries that were faced with industrial action. Was used to break a transport strike in 1944

Question 20

What was the reality of most strikes that took place during the war?

Answer 20

Most were brief only lasting for a few hours. Much of the time employers felt confident enough to dismiss the strikers.

Question 21

What were most strikes related to?

Answer 21

Discipline and working conditions, unfair company policies, support for a dismissed colleague.

Question 22

How many strikes were there between Pearl Harbour and VJ day?

Answer 22

14,471 involving 6,774,000 workers.

Question 23

What happened to labour efficiency during the war years?

Answer 23

Fell between 20% and 50%

Question 24

By the end of the war how many people had moved to find work?

Answer 24

one in eight. 27 million Americans moved during the war.

Question 25

Where did most people migrate to during the war?

Answer 25

From South to North and from East to West.

Question 26

What happened to the population of rural areas?

Answer 26

Fell by 29%

Question 27

How many moved to California and DC during the war?

Answer 27

2 million and 200,000 people.

Question 28

What was a consequence of the huge number of people moving to cities during the war?

Answer 28

There was a housing shortage, barrack style facilities were built holding up to 1.5 million people.

Question 29

What happened to the population of the USA between 1940-45?

Answer 29

Rose by 6.5 million

Question 30

What happened to US exports between 1933 and 1940?

Answer 30

Rose from $1.6 billion to $4 billion

Question 31

What new industry did the US become world leaders of by the end of the war?

Answer 31

Rubber