quality of life changing in the 1920s

what were the necessities for american dream life?

- house / home ownership (suburbs)

- job

- family

- significant number of consumer goods e.g. radios, fridges, washing machines and TVs

how many people owned and rented their homes in 1920 vs in 1940?

1920 - 6,700,000 people owned homes and 12,900,000 rented

1940 - 15,200,000 home owners and 19,600,000 renting homes

a very steep rise in home ownership

as 1920s went on, where did more and more people shop? (spending money)

in chain stores rather than small and local stores

by 1929, what % of all goods in US were sold by retail chains? (spending money)

21%

how did chain stores expand? give an example (spending money)

early chains had 1 or 2 stores in 1 state and then moved into several states - J.C. penney (homeware chain that sold furnishing, clothing and household goods) spread to all states

what did chain stores all help to create? (spending money)

an 'american' culture that made people at home in any state

what did chain stores begin a decline in? (spending money)

'mom and pop' shops (family run businesses that couldn't offer discounted prices of chain stores)

the 1930 census showed that people spent what % of their income on food? and they spend how much % of their food spending money on eating out? (food)

23% of their income on food & 13% of their food spending money on eating out

how had the standard of living rise by 1940? (food)

people only needed to spend 21% of their income on food and 15% of that money was spent on eating out, which cost more than eating in

what happened to household appliance market in the 1920s and 1930s? (household appliances)

it boomed

what kind of appliances ran on electricity? (household appliances)

most of them e.g. fridges, radios, toasters, washing machines, irons and vacuum cleaners

what were newly electrified homes doing by 1940? (household appliances)

buying as many electrical appliances as more long-established ones and they were buying the same things

in 1940, what % of all homes with electricity have an iron a radio and what % had a washing machine, a fridge and a toaster? (household appliances)

over 80% of all homes had an iron and a radio

over 50% had a washing machine, a fridge and a toaster

what was happening to nation's health?

it was improving

the death rates for which illnesses dropped steadily? when was the exception? (health)

for diphtheria, smallpox, tuberculosis, whooping cough and polio - exception of a rise in the early 1930s when people couldn't afford to pay medical bills

what did the government invest more in? (health)

providing free healthcare for those who couldn't afford it, making them more likely to go to the doctor

how did the government spending on healthcare differ in 1917, 1930 and 1940? (health)

1917 - $3,100,000

1930 - $11 million

1940 - $32,700,000

what % of all children aged 14-17 were going to school in 1917? how did this change in 1929 and then 1940? what was this an indication of? (education)

1917 - 27%

1929 - 51%

1940 - 73%

this was a significant indication of a rise in the standard of living

what did the labour legislation include in 1938?

stopping children under 14 working in most non-agricultural jobs - in 1920, 8% of all children under 15 were working

what % of all children under 15 were working in 1920?

8%

monthly wages of farm workers were a reminder that what? (life at the bottom)

that the standard of living varied

what would a farm worker earn a year? (life at the bottom)

$298 with only very basic food and board provision

how did what a farm worker earned a year differ to non-white person and white man? (life at the bottom)

farm worker's earnings were significantly less than the average wage of a non-white person for the same year and about 1 quarter of the average earnings of a white man