Children During The Great Depression

Children During the Great Depression

               In the 1930s, the effects of the Great Depression touched everyone in the United States and for the families who were out of work; their children were hit especially hard. They did not have enough to eat, they did not have adequate medical care, they could not attend school and they did not have adequate clothing.  My life is different in almost every way from these adolescents who suffered so very much during the Great Depression. 

               Life was hard and many families didn’t have enough food or water, hunger was a constant companion for children in the 1930s. (Picture Analysis Packet: Picture G and H) Many children had to scrounge for food, in alleys, behind stores or in garbage dumps, anywhere they might find a scrap.  Soup kitchens gave millions of people the only meal they would have for an entire day. (Britten, Loretta, and Sarah Brash, Eds. 1998. Our American Century Hard Times: The 30s. Richmond, VA: TIME-LIFE.) Because of the lack of food, some children resorted to stealing so that their families could survive. (Cinderella Man. Dir. Ron Howard. Perf. Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger and Paul Giamatti. 2005. DVD.)  At home, I always have my fill, no matter how hungry I am and I have never had to steal a thing so I can survive.

            Hobos were a common thing during the Great Depression but you rarely hear of one today. Hobos were often teenagers who had left home when they felt their families were struggling to support them and couldn’t afford to feed them anymore. They would hop onto trains without paying and traveled from place to place in search of work. If they didn’t find work in one place, they would hop on another train and go to a new location.  They would not ride in the passenger compartments; they would ride in the cars that carried livestock or freight.  Often they would wait until the train was moving and jump on because they were trying not to be seen.  (“King of the Hobos” Pearson, Arvel. Dark Days: America’s Great Depression, Logan, Iowa: Perfection Learning 2006) and (”Teenage Hoboes in the Great Depression.” National Heritage Museum. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. .)  I have been on a few trains but I never had to hop onto one illegally, my parents always paid my fare.  The only work I have to do is my chores around the house.