Women Surviving The Great Depression

Women Surviving The Great Depression


The Great Depression did not affect everyone the same way. Many rich people felt no impact at all, and were oblivious to the suffering of others.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). As a result, women during this time abandoned their husbands completely. 

Women found their status being enhanced by their new roles and responsibilities. Black women especially found it easier to obtain work than their husbands. Either it was working as domestic servants, clerks, textiles workers and other occupations. This employment increased their status and power in the home, gaining them a new voice in domestic decisions.

The unemployment that men faced,  was a harder hit psychologically than women were. Since men were expected to provide for their families, it was humiliating to have to ask for assistance. Although some argued that women should not be given jobs when many men were unemployed. Also, in the Sara Evans text, Born for Liberty, one man wrote to his congressman " If less women were employed it would make room for the employment of many of the idle men in our country... in the last analysis women's true place is her home where she can see to the proper raising of her children while the man earns the living."(page 201) This quote supports that men were still against women working and they will always be the easy target in a crisis like this. 

Traditionally female fields of teaching and social services grew. Children started taking on more responsibilities, sometimes finding work when their parents could not. Women started taking a more important role and space in the society through hard times. Women gaining enough confidence and taking over all the jobs that are both in and outside of house is a step in more freedom.  As a result of living through the Depression, some people developed habits of careful saving and frugality, others determined to create a comfortable life for themselves.