unemployment
The unemployment rate was already decreasing even before the Great Depression struck. However, once it came about, jobs became rarer to get and many Americans lost their jobs. By 1933, the unemployment rate hovered close to twenty-five percent. Because of this, many families struggled to feed themselves, purchase goods, and pay their rent. With unemployment rates skyrocketing, even children and women were expected to work. Even if families were fortunate enough to have a majority of them employed, they still struggled to make ends meet.