Sheila Mae Garnace
History 112
Professor Kaatz
April 18, 2014
The Effect of the Great Depression on Women in the Workforce
(Word Count: 1751)
The Great Depression in 1930 left a hallmark in American history. It was certainly a dramatic event that happened- an era of stock market crashes, bank runs, and currency speculations. The Depression left unemployment from less than three million to four million in 1930; eight million in 1931 and twelve and one-half million in 1932. In 1929, the average income was $2,300, which decreased into $1,500 in 1933.[1] The Great Depression left high unemployment rates, failing banks, and a changing financial market. From 1930 to 1933, women were forced to work because of poor economic conditions, but faced employment discrimination. The passage of the New Deal greatly improved women’s experience in the workplace.
What led to the Great Depression?
The financial crisis in 1929 occurred when investors were unable to meet margin calls. The increased in stock prices drove investors’ expectation. The number of people buying stocks increased, but people did not have the money to buy stocks so they borrowed money from the banks. Buying in margin came into play; brokers and banks protected themselves and many put in a “call provision.” They loaned a certain percentage that banks and stockholders agreed on. When the stock market value fluctuated, the banks started calling stockholders to put more equity to cover what was owed. As the fallacy of composition principle states, “what works in a part, does not work as a whole.” So in 1929 the bankers had made a call provision to protect themselves and demanded more equity from the stockholders. The stockholders were desperately selling their stocks, which further deflated the market. The mass sell off stocks led to decrease of the stock market value, which then led to great depression in 1930.[2]
How did the Great Depression affect women?
While women were employed in sales, clerical, and domestic services as early as 1890s, the Great Depression disproportionately affected men. The composition of family changed over time as they moved through Depression. More than two million women and men faced unemployment and homelessness; they slept in city subways, roads, and vacant lands. In 1929, the stock market crash paralyzed industries dominated by men such as steel, rubber, and chemicals. Most males lost their jobs. They had hard time finding jobs in the market. By 1930s, the unemployment on men was twice or thrice times than women during most of the Depression years.[3] On the other hand, manufacturing businesses, where most women were employed, were not affected as much as the big ones. Women had more wages in teaching, nursing, domestic service, and office work.[4] Although women mostly depended on men-wage earnings before the Depression hit, they were compelled to look for job for the survival of their family.
Though many women had not worked before, the economic condition forced women to go out and became the breadwinners of the family since their husbands lost their jobs. Women weighed their responsibilities and attitudes of their family and the difficulty of finding work. The decision whether to work or not depended on women.[5] Working lessened the responsibilities of women- wives and mothers- inside their households.[6] Many women- poor, single, immigrant- considered work as necessity.[7] While more women went out to work, discrimination against married women generated.
During the Depression, the public did not appreciate that more married women were at work. The two reasons why the society discriminated married women were, “they thought women were taking men’s jobs, and they were abandoning their families in a time of extreme need.” [8] Society perceived that men were threatened that women were taking jobs, but in reality, they mainly worked at manufacturing, domestic service, and clerical work. Another criticism was women were neglecting their responsibilities inside their homes. The criticisms caused the federal government to implement a law that married women were not allowed to work in government jobs in 1930. Public schools, transportation systems, banks and other companies fired and refused to hire married women.[9] Instead of looking at women as an ally that supported the family, they were seen as threat because it diminished the role of men in the family units. These discriminations put against women were shallow because they did not realize that they were going in the workforce not to compete with the men, but to save their family from starvation.
During 1930, women consisted of more than twenty-five percent of the total labor in the United States; ten million women were working. In the early year of the collapse, they were unable to find sources of income and were mostly discriminated against by public employment (Abelson 106). Most had been unemployed for long months; they used up whatever income they had. Almost forty-three percent of the known unemployment in Washington D.C was women. According to the Milwaukee Journal, sixty percent of the non-family women had been self-supporting in 1929. They came to the attention of relief authorities but it did not mean that they were given welfare.[10]
African American single women more likely to be in the workforce; they were encouraged to bring money into their homes. This cultural value supported and motivated the black women families to work.[11] Between 1931 and 1934, many were homeless because resources were restricted mostly for women and families with dependent children; therefore homelessness could not be avoided.[12] Historian Frederick Lewis Allen wrote, “One of the three strangest things about Depression is the fact that it was so nearly invisible to the casual eye.” And a woman said, “You could feel it, but you could not look out of the window and see it.”[13] The effect of the Depression was very devastating. Everyone was aware, but they could not bear the situation they experienced. The impact of the Depression greatly affected African-American women in the workforce.
African-American women, though, suffered worse- underpaid agricultural laborer, and two-third of domestic servants were black. Less than one-tenth of all black wage- earning women worked in the manufacturing of meats, cigars, and textile industries. They were recommended to do well in their work if they want to stay in their jobs.[14] However, they lost their jobs when white women entered the market during the Depression. In 1935, twenty-five percent of black women were receiving government relief payments. Although married women were employed in the 1930s, the wages were low and did not ensure the family’s survival. For women who worked in sewing and production of toys made $5 each week.[15] The Women’s Bureau surveyed five industries and white women made $18 per week at a time. In 1937, the Department of Labor Women’s Bureau found that more than two and one half million were white women still work in the factories and one- third as domestics.[16] However, when the New Deal was created, it enabled women to experience a change in the workforce.
Did the New Deal improve women’s working condition?
President Roosevelt established the New Deal in 1933. The New Deal partnered with National Recovery Administration, Wagner Act, Works Progress Administration, Social Security Program and Fair Labor Standards. These elements of the New Deal helped and enabled women and men to get jobs to sustain their families. The unemployed women with children were given relief. Through National Recovery Administration (NRA), women were able to work forty hours each week. This drove up the average working female into sixty-three percent. Most women, through Works Progress Administration (WPA), began working at sewing companies and doing office work. Women who had disabled husbands, widows, and singles were given social security payments. It secured women’s rights in labor, “By 1940, 800,000 American women workers were unionized– triple the number in 1930. New Deal programs legitimized women’s collective bargaining efforts, encouraged more women from more industries to unionize, and encouraged traditionally male nationals unions to include women.”[17] NPA and the Wagner Act strengthened women’s roles and helped them get into male-dominated jobs. The New Deal helped raise women’s wages, but a little less than men. It improved working conditions, high level of participation, and overcame discrimination against colored people. After the New Deal was built, the percentage of women in the workforce increased.
One third of the married women worked- which fifty percent of increase from 1920s. The responsibilities of being a mothers, wives, and daughters decrease because of going into the workforce.[18] More unskilled women worked in the automobile factories and job that traditionally for men like rubber, metal, leather, and glass industries; however, they get a little less pay than what men got. The New Deal opened the door to employment for women during the Depression.
The Great Depression greatly impacted America and its people. During the crash of 1929, many lost their jobs. It left a high unemployment rate among American people, which was a life-threatening situation because they were not financially secured. In other words, they did not have income to buy necessities for their survival. The crash affected mostly male workers because it hit the industries where a great number of men worked, but not much of the female manufacturing businesses. This led most women to work and served as the breadwinners of their families. The New Deal was established in the midst of the Great Depression, which allowed women to enter the workforce and to obtain opportunities for financial independence and autonomy. It improved the working conditions and encouraged women to join organized work, most importantly, the New Deal secured women’s labor rights.
Bibliography
Abelson, Elaine. “Women Who Have No Men to Work for Them”: The Gender and Homeless in the Great Depression, 1930-1934.” Feminist Studies 29, no. 1 (2003): 106-114. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed April 14, 2014).
Blackwelder, Julia. Women of the Depression: Caste and Culture in San Antonio, 1929-1939. 1998. Texas A&M University Press, 1984. 26-36. http://books.google.com/books?id=8uSkL-mMJxsC&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=%E2%80%9CWomen+of+the+Depression:+Caste+and+Culture+in+San+Antonio,+1929-1939&source=bl&ots=3Gu1xfL3Lb&sig=6NVDtZMcbOdZFL8Ua6kgcMuaFkk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=D1lPU6iaHcuVyATA1oCYDw&ved=0CFQQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CWomen%20of%20the%20Depression%3A%20Caste%20and%20Culture%20in%20San%20Antonio%2C%201929-1939&f=false
“Children and the Great Depression” Digital History. Date accessed April 8, 2014. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/active_learning/explorations/explorations.cfm
Hapke, Laura. Daughters of the Great Depression: Women, Work, and Fiction in the American 1930s. 1997; University of Georgia Press, 1995. 4-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=HQuY1f26BSkC&pg=PR13&lpg=PR13&dq=Daughters+of+the+Great+Depression:+Women,+Work,+and+Fiction+in+the+American+1930s&source=bl&ots=po1SieJT9R&sig=Ak_eRDGc4Hw2HWZIZJMQ6JdfGYM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jGBPU-n4NIKbyATYxoLACw&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Daughters%20of%20the%20Great%20Depression%3A%20Women%2C%20Work%2C%20and%20Fiction%20in%20the%20American%201930s&f=false
Klein, Maury. “The Stock Market Crash of 1929: A Review Article.” The Business History Review 75, no. 2 (2001): 332. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3116648
“The Depression and World War II.” National Women’s History Museum. Last modified 2007. http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/industry/12.htm
Statement
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My essay is the correct word count (1000 words) and that I have listed the word count on by the title of the essay. It if it shorter, I understand that I will be marked down based on a percentage. So if I write 500 words, the highest grade will be a 50/100.
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I have not plagiarized in this paper. I understand what plagiarism is.
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I also did not use websites as secondary sources for my paper. If I did, I know that I will receive a 0/100 for my paper.
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I understand that if I plagiarize that I will receive a Fail for the assignment and my actions will be reported to the Dean. I also understand that I could be kicked out of the course and the college.
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I also understand that turning in a paper without footnotes/bibliography constitutes plagiarism and I will receive a 0/100 for my paper if I do this.
Sheila Mae Garnace 4/18/2014
[1] “Children and the Great Depression,” Digital History, date accessed April 8, 2014, http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/active_learning/explorations/explorations.cfm
[2] Maury Klein, “The Stock Market Crash of 1929: A Review Article,” The Business History Review 75, no. 2 (2001): 332, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3116648
[3] Laura Hapke, Daughters of the Great Depression: Women, Work, and Fiction in the American 1930s, (1997; University of Georgia Press, 1995), 7, http://books.google.com/books?id=HQuY1f26BSkC&pg=PR13&lpg=PR13&dq=Daughters+of+the+Great+Depression:+Women,+Work,+and+Fiction+in+the+American+1930s&source=bl&ots=po1SieJT9R&sig=Ak_eRDGc4Hw2HWZIZJMQ6JdfGYM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jGBPU-n4NIKbyATYxoLACw&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Daughters%20of%20the%20Great%20Depression%3A%20Women%2C%20Work%2C%20and%20Fiction%20in%20the%20American%201930s&f=false
[4] “The Depression and World War II,” National Women’s History Museum, last modified 2007, http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/industry/12.htm
[5] Julia Blackwelder, Women of the Depression: Caste and Culture in San Antonio, 1929-1939, (1984; Texas A&M University Press, 1998), 26, http://books.google.com/books?id=8uSkL-mMJxsC&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=%E2%80%9CWomen+of+the+Depression:+Caste+and+Culture+in+San+Antonio,+1929-1939&source=bl&ots=3Gu1xfL3Lb&sig=6NVDtZMcbOdZFL8Ua6kgcMuaFkk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=D1lPU6iaHcuVyATA1oCYDw&ved=0CFQQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CWomen%20of%20the%20Depression%3A%20Caste%20and%20Culture%20in%20San%20Antonio%2C%201929-1939&f=false
[8] “The Depression and World War II.”
[9] “The Depression and World War II.”
[10] Elaine Abelson, “Women Who Have No Men to Work for Them”: The Gender and Homeless in the Great Depression, 1930-1934,” Feminist Studies 29, no. 1 (2003): 111, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed April 14, 2014).
[11] Blackwelder, Women of the Depression, 36.
[12] Ableson, “Women Who Have No Men to Work for Them,” 110.
[13] Ableson, “Women Who Have No Men to Work for Them,” 114.
[15] “Children and the Great Depression.”
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