How Did The Great Depression Affect Families

Around 1930’s something hit the United States and that was the Great Depression. Not only did California got effected by it but everyone did in the United States. The Great Depression had a huge social and psychological impact on people. As it have result in the loss of income so that means they might need to move elsewhere so they could find some kind of job to support their families and maybe this depression will end soon. During the Great depression era the top 3 things that have effect people in California was unemployment when the stock market crash, migrant family’s move to California to find jobs on farm, and the camps of squatters. There are a lot of reason how the depression in 1930’s effect California and regular people families but …show more content…
Unemployment grew to a record proportions where 1 in 4 people were unable to find work. It also didn’t help when banks start going out of business and people wanted to get all of their saving out to have some money to help feed their families. So families wanted to move out west to California for some farm work and they were paid ok but during December and March they didn’t get paid because it was during winter season. Also in the book Steinbeck wrote "It is this refusal of the counties to consider anything but the immediate economy and profit of the locality that is the cause of a great deal of the unsolvable quality of the migrants' problem" (Chp 5 p.48) So with so many people coming to California to look for jobs as a farmer I don’t understand why you would treat this migrants workers and family so bad when you are the one that need people to work on your land doing the depression. I just thought if everyone would have work together during the depression era probably wouldn’t be so bad and lasted that …show more content…
So they have to squat at places and unknown land. Steinbeck also said in his book “Some of the new arrivals to the land and area will try to still possess "spirit and decency" will try and attempt to maintain social graces, like privacy and hygiene, those who have been around longer and have been battered by starvation, sickness and death become listless and hopeless”. (Chp 2 p. 27) For this line you could see that people who just came to the land will try to stay fresh and clean but for the people who have been there for a while will know these people will suffer like they are going through right now. From now and back then is much different but I am always curious when I learn about things in history about our country past how come people didn’t work together and help each other out to make the country get out of depression. Instead of treat people bad and say you need money you will get paid a certain wage if you work on my farm but oh yeah you can’t live here so they have to squat