What Were the Effects on the Children of the Great Depression?

The American Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s left several effects on children of all ages. The unemployment rate had skyrocketed and peaked at figures exceeding the 12 million mark. This forced many poor families to send their children to work in order to meet their financial obligations. Many children of the Great Depression were malnourished and ill, as their families could not afford necessary medical care. Some children were sent to live with relatives who had more resources, and yet others were left abandoned or orphaned.

Desolate families often forced their children, some as young as 10-years-old, to quit school so that they could help the family earn the money it needed to survive. Many of these young children did various types of labor to bring home a meager amount of money. According to accounts by those who lived through this economic depression, countless children were left in poor physical and emotional health as a result.

For the poorest of families struggling to survive, these children received no toys or playtime activities. The infant mortality rate was also at an all-time high due to lack of prenatal medical care. As a result of many children not receiving medical care, disease increased in great numbers as well. Lack of dental care caused many to suffer from tooth decay and periodontal disease at a young age.

During the Great Depression, many children were left orphaned. This led to what later became known as the plight of the Orphan Train children. Child labor laws had not come into effect, so many children were coerced into acts of hard labor. These children were taken to rural farm areas, where they would do rigorous farm work in exchange for room and board.

Other elements that affected children of the Great Depression were fear and psychological depression. As the relentless pressure of work with little reward continued, many saw little hope at home. Some children who were exhausted from their daily routine of laborious work ran away and hopped aboard railroad trains and box cars, and a number died in accidents as a result.

Orphaned children who had endured hardship for many years often found themselves in desperate situations as they grew into adulthood. Many of these individuals ran away from their labor farms as they approached their teenager years, only to become involved in criminal activities. Some resorted to armed robbery and prostitution, while others spent years imprisoned for committing felonies.