Summary: Rior To The Great Depression

537 Words3 Pages
rior to the Great Depression, approximately 18 million elderly, disabled, and single mothers with children already lived at a bare subsistence level in the United States (crf-usa.org). These people were provided charity from churches and some government charities. After the Great Depression, welfare, or dependence on the government for well-being (Conley, 2013) really took a hold. By 1933, another 13 million people were out of work and the charity organizations, food kitchens and churches could not keep up with the demand for food, shelter, and basic necessities for the millions of people. Three different theories into the inception of welfare were discussed. First, the neo-Marxist theory suggested that the Great Depression left many men unemployed