The Great Depression and its Impact on Family Structures

The Great Depression meant a real challenge for American families in major ways, since it placed economic, social and psychological strains and demands upon families and all their members. Families of various social, ethnic, racial and regional backgrounds, with different styles of marital and familiar relationships had different reactions to the stress and demands which were placed upon them.

In 1933, the average family income had dropped to $1,500, which meant 40% less than the one of 1929, of $2, 3000. This caused many families to lose their savings, as numerous banks collapsed in the early 1930’s. As families were unable to finance living expenses, many were deprived of their homes or evicted from their apartments, being working-class and middle class families the most affected by the Depression.

The Great Depression caused disorganization in the family unit. Marriage rates declined and the trend towards decreasing birthrates accelerated. Strangely, divorce rates also declined, but this was only a consequence of the inability to pay lawyers’ fee. However, desertion rates did increase and in some cases, two or more families were crowded together in apartments or homes.

Just like in the novel and film adaptation of The Night of the Hunter, men had deal with the worst part of the problem, since traditional conceptions of gender roles established that men were the ones who should provide money and food to their families. This made unemployed men feel like failures and such feelings were the main cause men turned into criminals. Ben Harper, who was John and Pearl’s father, for example, got tired of watching his family starve and decided to kill two men in order to steal $10, 000 and give it to his children.

This is another interesting situation, because during the 1930s, fathers were emotionally distant and indifferent, some of them even took up drinking or went away on long trips looking for a job, deserting their wives and families. This caught my attention because when Ben Harper arrives home with the money and tells his children that he has done something wrong and he is about to be taken by the blue men, he is really distant, not loving at all, with both Pearl and John, and even more shocking is the fact that he hides the money in his little daughter’s doll, knowing this could endanger his family’s security and also showing the despair he felt for providing economical sustenance.

Willa Harper is another example of a distant mother who was also compelled by her circumstances to work; she had become a widow and still had to support her kids. But when Harry Powell appeared in the picture and after being convinced by Icey to think about marrying him because he was a man of God and she needed someone to help her raise her youngsters, she became an even more distant mother, leaving her kids to endure a real hell in hands of Harry Powell which eventually lead to her own death.

REFERENCE

BRYSON, DENNIS. "Family and Home, Impact of the Great Depression on." Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. Ed. Robert S. McElvaine. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 310-315. U.S. History in Context. Web. 23 Jan. 2016.