Australian life in the 1930's
Life in the 1930’s was very hard as it was the time of the great depression. The great depression lasted from the late 1920's all through the 30's. The Great Depression was a time of low economic activity, this meant many people were unemployed, and many people didn’t have enough money to support their families. This lead to many families starving as they didn’t have the money to spend on food.
In the 1930’s the impact on the Australian society was devastating as, without a steady flow of income many people weren’t able to pay their housing bills and were forced to move out and live in makeshift dwellings with poor heating and sanitation. At the age of 13-14 many working class children would be pulled out of school as their parents couldn’t afford for them to get an education. They also pulled the
children out of school so the children would be able to find a job and earn money for their living costs. Jobs were often easier to find for young people but by the time the children turned 15-21 years of age they were fired. Married women from the 1930’s were expected to keep the house and at the same time try and earn some money for her family.
“Unemployment statistics for Australia in the Depression years underestimated the extent of the severity of the problem: from mid-1930 until the last months of 1934, approximately one-fifth of all wage and salary earners were out of work, and in 1932-33 almost two-thirds of all breadwinners were receiving an income of less than the basic wage.”~ Andrew Williamson . This statistic tells how many people must have lost there jobs during the great depression.
In the 1930’s the impact on the Australian society was devastating as, without a steady flow of income many people weren’t able to pay their housing bills and were forced to move out and live in makeshift dwellings with poor heating and sanitation. At the age of 13-14 many working class children would be pulled out of school as their parents couldn’t afford for them to get an education. They also pulled the
children out of school so the children would be able to find a job and earn money for their living costs. Jobs were often easier to find for young people but by the time the children turned 15-21 years of age they were fired. Married women from the 1930’s were expected to keep the house and at the same time try and earn some money for her family.
“Unemployment statistics for Australia in the Depression years underestimated the extent of the severity of the problem: from mid-1930 until the last months of 1934, approximately one-fifth of all wage and salary earners were out of work, and in 1932-33 almost two-thirds of all breadwinners were receiving an income of less than the basic wage.”~ Andrew Williamson . This statistic tells how many people must have lost there jobs during the great depression.