Lives of Those Affected

The Great Depression was a time where the country experienced widespread poverty, high unemployment, and social unrest. Everyday life for people living during the Great Depression was marked by hardship, uncertainty, and the struggle to survive.

Lost Jobs

One of the most significant challenges that faced people during the Great Depression was finding work. Unemployment rates reached as high as 25% with many individuals and families finding themselves without any source of income. There were few jobs available, and applicants for each opening were frequently in the dozens. Those who did succeed in finding employment frequently had to settle for lower pay and longer hours than they were accustomed to.

Life During the Great Depression was a daily struggle for individuals who were unemployed for things like putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads. In order for people to survive they relied on charitable giving and government help, but in many cases this was not enough to get by. In places like the metropolitan areas, breadlines and soup kitchens became typical sights, and families frequently had to make with what little money they had.

Suicides

During the hard times of the Great Depression suicide rates rose sharply. By the year 1932, the suicide rate had increased by over 30 percent compared to levels before the Great Depression. This was due to a number of factors during the Great Depression like, poverty, unemployment, social isolation, lack of food, and so on.

One of the groups of people who were most affected by the rise in suicide rates during the Great Depression is men. The reason for this is because men were mostly to lose their jobs, with many previously having worked in industries like manufacturing and construction which were impacted greatly by the Great Depression. Another factor to men having suicide rates is because men were considered the bread winners at the time so losing their jobs and not having income for their house and family made many lose hope.

With the high number of suicides, people started to realize how important mental health is and the dangers of the possible outcomes for those who do not take care of their mental health or have the resources to. Many mental health resources came about during the Great Depression but unfortunatly it was not enough to keep suicide rates down.

Poverty and Homelessness

Since the Great Depression is one of the greatest economic downturns in history the number of people who fell into poverty and homelessness grew at exponential rates. Due to the extremely high rates of unemployment, many people and families had no source of income and ended up losing their houses. This caused families to make shelters, which they referred to as Hoovervilles, made up of scrape wood, cardboard, and other materials they could get a hold of. They were mostly located on the outskirts of towns and cities. These small, village like, areas of shelters also did not have accessible food or water causing many to be malnourished.

Woman and children were particularly vulnerable to homelessness during the Great Depression. The reason for this is because many women were single mothers, struggling to provide

for their children with no support from a partner. This lead to children often being forced to leave school, in order to work and help provide for their families.