The war and the economy Flashcards
What happened to unemployment rates between 1940 and 1944?
Decreased from 13.9% to 1.2%.
What % of women were employed by 1945?
60%
How much employment did black Americans find in federal govt?
rose from 50,000 in 1939 to 200,000 in 1944.
What happened to GNP between 1939 and 1945?
Rose from 91.3 billion to 166.6 billion.
What happened to the number of teens in the workforce during the war?
Rose from 900,000 in 1940 to 3 million in 1944.
What attitude did teenagers have to education in the war years?
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.
What tax rates were those earning over $200,000 facing during the war?
94%
What happened to the % of national income taken by the richest 1% during the war years?
Decreased from 13.4% to 6.7%
What happened to prices and wages during the war years?
Prices rose by 28% and wages by 40%.
How much aircraft and tanks did the US produce between 1941 and 45?
86,000 aircraft and 290,000 tanks.
What happened to farm incomes between 1941 and 45?
Grew by 250%
What happened to the issue of overproduction during the war?
It was negated due to large demand from abroad meaning America was the world’s largest exporter of food.
How many women entered the workforce in 1944 alone?
6.5 million
What % of teenage boys found employment?
66%
What issues arose due to the growth of teenagers working?
Growth of disrespectful behaviour and unsocial behaviour. Joined gangs such as Zoot suiters and were blamed for increases in crime.
What happened to labour union membership during the war?
Grew from 10.5 million to 14.75 million.
What strikes did take place during the war?
Coal miner strike where 400,000 went on strike for 12 weeks.
What divisions did strikes cause within America?
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.
What did the Smith-Connally War Labour Disputes act do?
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
What was the reality of most strikes that took place during the war?
Most were brief only lasting for a few hours. Much of the time employers felt confident enough to dismiss the strikers.
What were most strikes related to?
Discipline and working conditions, unfair company policies, support for a dismissed colleague.
How many strikes were there between Pearl Harbour and VJ day?
14,471 involving 6,774,000 workers.
What happened to labour efficiency during the war years?
Fell between 20% and 50%
By the end of the war how many people had moved to find work?
one in eight. 27 million Americans moved during the war.
Where did most people migrate to during the war?
From South to North and from East to West.
What happened to the population of rural areas?
Fell by 29%
How many moved to California and DC during the war?
2 million and 200,000 people.
What was a consequence of the huge number of people moving to cities during the war?
There was a housing shortage, barrack style facilities were built holding up to 1.5 million people.
What happened to the population of the USA between 1940-45?
Rose by 6.5 million
What happened to US exports between 1933 and 1940?
Rose from $1.6 billion to $4 billion
What new industry did the US become world leaders of by the end of the war?
Rubber
