Question

Describe some of the ways in which women endured and survived the Great Depression.

Book: Born of Liberty by Sara M. Evans

Answer 1

Women had been slowly entering the workplace in more numbers in the 1930s for decades. But the Great Depression led women to pursue employment with a renewed sense of urgency as thousands of people, once family breadwinners, lost their jobs. A 22 percent decrease in marriage rates between 1929 and 1939 also meant that more single women had to support themselves. While the jobs open to women were paying less, they were less unpredictable. By 1940, 90% of all women's occupations could be classified into 10 groups, such as nursing , teaching and civil service for white women, while black and Hispanic women were mostly relegated to domestic work.

Blacks had a good spokesperson in First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt during the Great Depression. Her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, advocated for more women in office, such as Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, the first woman ever to hold a cabinet position and the driving force behind the Social Security Act. In the meantime, the battle for equal pay has become harder for those women who have managed to remain working. Over 25% of the pay codes of the National Recovery Administration set lower salaries for women

While women have been allowed to join certain unions, they have had limited political impact,. At the end of the day, lower wages and fewer benefits were the norm for women in the workforce and this was especially true for women of color. Mexican-American women who were able to find jobs also engaged in the informal economy, worked as street vendors or leased rooms for lodgers as people downsized their homes.

By 1940, only 15 per cent of married women were employed, compared to almost 50 per cent of single women. But the stigma surrounding married women taking jobs from men was put aside as America was suffering in the run-up to World War II. As men were deployed abroad, women were called upon to take their place in home front manufacturing positions. Icons like Rosie the Riveter promoted women 's newly extended labor contributions at least until the end of the war.