Housing  The quality of housing fell. Families were forced to crowd into small houses or apartments to share costs. Many people had no homes at all. They slept on public streets, buses, or trains. One official in Chicago reported in 1931 that several hundred women without homes were sleeping in city parks. In a number of cities, people without homes built their houses from whatever materials they could find. They used empty boxes or pieces of metal to build shelters in open areas.  People called these areas of little temporary houses "Hoovervilles." They blamed President Hoover for their situation. So, too, did the men forced to sleep in public parks at night. They covered themselves with pieces of paper. And they called the paper "Hoover blankets." People without money in their pants called their empty pockets "Hoover flags."

People sleeping in the public because they were homeless and had no money to pay their rent or mortgage. A "Hooverville" home, located in a shanty town during the late 20s early 30's.

Employment  Millions of people lost their jobs as unemployment rose sharply. The number of workers looking for a job jumped from three percent to more than twenty-five percent in just four years. One of every three or four workers was looking for a job in  Unemployment was the result of a number of factors during the Great Depression. Some of the trigger factors included:  Complete collapse of the stock market worldwide  Cut-back business and government expenditures  Drought conditions that ravaged agricultural regions worldwide  Low credit availability that added to debt by borrowing  Deflation in prices of consumer goods made worse by a drop in wages  Few alternate job resources  Increase in retaliatory tariffs that led to exacerbated collapse of world trade

People who were unemployed and looking for a job.

Everyday LifeEveryday Life  The Depression changed the family in dramatic ways. Many couples delayed marriage - the divorce rate dropped sharply (it was too expensive to pay the legal fees and support two households); and birth rates dropped below the replacement level for the first time in American history.  Families suffered a dramatic loss of income during Herbert Hoover's term in office, dropping 35% in those four years to $15M. This put a great deal of stress on families. Some reacted by pulling together, making due with what they had, and turning to family and friends for help. Only after exhausting all alternatives would they reluctantly look to the government for help. Other families did not fare as well, and ended up failing apart.

Leisure  With the reduction of spendable income, people had to look to inexpensive leisure pursuits. President Roosevelt helped make stamp collecting a popular hobby.  Parlor games and board games became the rage. In 1935 Parker Brothers introduced the game of Monopoly and 20 thousand sets were sold in one week.  Gambling increased as people sought any means to add to their income. Between 1930 and 1939 horse racing became legal in 15 more states bringing the total to 21.  Interest in spectator sports such as baseball grew. Stars like Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio drew fans into the stadium, and those who could not attend the games gathered around their radios to listen to the play-by-play. The 1932 Winter Olympics, held at Lake Placid, New York, renewed interest in winter sports. The Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal work project for youths, built ski runs and jumps on public land as well as recreational facilities in the national parks.

Monopoly 1935 Edition

Food  Children greatly suffered from malnutrition. For example, in a 1932 study by the Health Department in New York City, it was found that 20.5 percent of the children were suffering from malnutrition. Children in rural areas were even worse off. Dietary diseases were rampant because adequate food such as milk, fruit, fresh vegetables, and eggs could not be bought with the family’s low income. The death rate for children suffering from undernourishment was on the rise because children were losing their stamina and were unable to fight off disease.  At the beginning of the depression, prices on food that the farmers produced deflated so much that the farmers were unable to make a profit off of their land. As a consequence of this, they refused to sell what they produced. If they lived in the middle portion of the country, known at this time as the Dust Bowl, they were also experiencing drought starting around They could no longer make money off of what they land provided.  When the people lost their job, they could not provide food to their families, not even themselves. Therefore, the government provided free meals to those people. The Great Depression made a terrible effect on everyone and it took a more than ten years to recover the society.

Free food being distributed in an urban center to large numbers of the unemployed.