What Happened To Living Standards? Flashcards
The impact of anti poverty policies and economic divisions
More marked divisions of rich and poor: 1949: richest 1% controlled 20.8% of US by 1956: 26%
BA harder to get hired and paid less
Roosevelt’s Affirmative Action was slow coming and caused resentment
Poverty in 1966
12% of WA and 41% of BA living below the poverty line
Effect of race relations on American geography
South Bronx in NY: Hispanic Ghetto
Areas such as south side Chicago had increasing no of people living in ‘housing units’
‘White flight’ whilst non whites concentrated in cities
Deliberate fires: landlords burn down apartments to claim insurance
Kennedys New Frontier
Moral issue not just political
1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act
Non whites elected into office
‘War on Poverty’
Part of LBJ’s Great Society
Greatest one time reduction in poverty 22% to 13%
Medicare, Headstart and Job Corps
Provided support medically- 1965 Medicare Act
Helped impoverished children gain higher levels of education
Offered work and training for young men and women
Other action of LBJ’s Great Society
Govt support for the arts and creation of PBS
Clean air/ forest/ river acts and preserved large land areas
1961 Housing Act: urban renewal, low income housing and low interest housing loans
1968 Economic Opportunities Act
Child nutrition act, Medicare Act
LBJ federal govt anti poverty policies
Set up independent agency, staff of over 130+
Social welfare programmes extended to more people and pay out more benefits
Collected data on biggest local problems and presented projects
Examples of projects under LBJ
Memphis: clinics to provide care and advice before and after birth
Black and Hispanic communities in LA fought to gain project funding- heightened racial tension and violence
CAPs
Funding not enough for large scale problems
Congress didn’t pass all Great Society bills
Community Action Plan (CAPs)
Criticisms of LBJs Great Society- Nixon
Encouraged to stay on welfare; favoured ‘working poor’, Nixon set out dismantling the Office of Economic opportunity and promoted ‘workfare’ not ‘welfare’
General criticisms of LBJs Great Society
Assistance should only be given to those who need it or it’ll only damage US further
Food Stamp programme and ‘rationalised welfare’: combined benefits of Family Assistance Plan
Carters administration and welfare
1978 Consumer Corporative Bank: low interest loans to co op organisations
Largely in urban areas
Lent money to small local groups to start businesses/ buy homes
Helped poor improve position
Rural Development Loan fund Carter
Extended various help to farmers
Low interest loans to rural communities to provide electrification, clinics, equipment for communal use etc
Last two years of Carter- new tactics
Introduced tax cuts: thought would help economy where trying to manipulate money supply had failed
Public lost confidence
More honest but less confident than Nixon
Incompetence of Carter
Three Mile Island
Iran Hostage Crisis
Reasons for increased leisure time
Spare time due to improving economy and regulation of working hours
Labour saving mechanisms
1938 Fair Labour Standards Act: 40hr week and overtime rules, minimum wage established
Results of increasing leisure time
Not all benefitted equally
Economic response: more movie theatres, theatres and sports stadiums: eating out
Illegal speakeasies: gamble and drink
By 1930: number of cinemas and differences in South and North
NY had 100s if cinemas; ranging from tiny 50 sweaters in Black areas to the luxurious Roxy, built to hold 5,000 people
North Carolina only had more than 1 movie theatre in 3 of all its towns
South were segregated and north unofficially
Expansion of movie industry
Particularly Hollywood
Employment boom for movie industry workers and those in the building/ service industries that fed and housed the workers
Radio and book industry
Grew
Development of the paper back
Spectator sports
Very popular and radio broadcasts of baseball meant more people watched
Radio sold sport and sport sold radio
Jack Dempsy
Farming family, working class background Rematch with Gene Tunney boxing, week prior: NY dep sold $90,000 worth of radios
Gene Tunney
Boxer son of Irish immigrant dock worker