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During the Great Depression, children in America experienced hard labor, malnutrition, starvation, and displacement. Many were orphaned and left to their own devices. Child labor was common, and education was often sacrificed. Hunger and malnutrition were widespread, leading to high infant mortality rates. Displacement caused isolation and emotional trauma. Orphaned children were often forced into indentured servitude on farms. The emotional and psychological scars of the Great Depression lasted into adulthood, leading to frugality and a focus on education.
The primary effects for children of America’s Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s were hard labor, malnutrition, starvation, and displacement. Many young people have also developed emotional and psychological problems as a result of living in constant uncertainty and seeing their families in difficulty. The difficult working conditions of this period also meant that many children were orphaned, and orphans were often left to their own devices, even at a very young age. Many of the children who survived this period became very frugal adults who placed a deep emphasis on savings and education, as if to prevent the experiences of their growing years from repeating themselves.
Child Labor
Desolate families often had no choice but to put their children to work to earn money. Sometimes the children accompanied their parents to sell goods or tend the fields, but at other times they worked more or less independently, doing manual labor and working long, strenuous hours. In most cases the children were withdrawn from school, often at the elementary level, to help their families get by. The United States today has pretty strict laws that prevent child labor and require education up to a point, but those laws didn’t exist during the Depression. In many cases young people who dropped out of school to go to work never returned, even after the economy stabilized.
Hunger and malnutrition
Many children of the Great Depression were malnourished and sick. Food was scarce and the things that were available often lacked the protein, vitamins and minerals growing children need to thrive. Almost all the laborers in this period went to bed hungry, even if the impacts were perhaps the hardest for the very young, whose growth and development depend in many ways on a solid diet.
The infant mortality rate was also very high, due in part to poor maternal health and nutrition and in part to a lack of adequate medical care. Few families could afford to see doctors or other medical professionals, which meant they more or less took care of themselves, but with virtually no resources. Lack of dental care also caused tooth decay and periodontal disease at a young age.
Displacement and isolation
Rather than watch their children starve, many families have chosen to send the children to various relatives or friends in other places. Sometimes this was done out of hope for a better existence, but in many cases it was simply to have one less mouth to feed. Children who were displaced or estranged from their parents and siblings often felt deeply isolated and many did not understand why they could not stay at home. This was especially true when some, but not all, of the children were relocated. Those forced to leave often resented those allowed to stay, particularly if they perceived their new circumstances as harsher.
Special concerns for orphans
During the Great Depression, many children were orphaned as their parents succumbed to disease, died from workplace injuries, or starved to death. This led to what later became known as the plight of the Orphan Train Children. A number of labor organizers made a practice of essentially rounding up orphans who would otherwise have been destitute and fend for themselves, then moving them to rural areas on farms where they were forced to do rigorous farm labor in exchange for room and board. Most of these arrangements were passed off as voluntary, but the children involved rarely had all the information before agreeing to go and in most cases essentially worked as indentured servants. They received no pay for their work, and many who tried to leave were told they would have to work longer to pay off the debt the landowners incurred to pay for their shelter.
Orphaned children who endured these life circumstances for long periods often found themselves in desperate situations as they grew into adulthood. Some went on to lead happy and prosperous lives, but many also ran away from their farms as they approached their teens only to get involved in criminal activity. Some resorted to armed robbery and prostitution, while others spent years in prison for committing crimes.
Emotional and psychological scars
Other elements that affected the children of the Great Depression were fear and psychological depression. As the unrelenting pressure of work with little pay continued, many saw little hope at home. In many cases, these emotional tolls lasted into adulthood. Some children, exhausted by their daily routine of drudgery, have escaped and jumped aboard trains and boxcars, and a number of children have either died in accidents as a result or ended up on work farms orphaned when they reached a point of despair along their journey.
Lasting consequences
Most of the children who survived the Depression years carried the scars of the era into adulthood, and many even into their deaths. These people tend to be very frugal and often focus intently on saving. Many find it difficult to throw away almost everything, perhaps out of fear that it will one day become useful or absolutely necessary. It is also common for many to place great emphasis on education, especially when it comes to university education.
