The Great Depression was a horrendous time, which disrupted the lives of many people. During this time many families fell apart from the strains of the Great Depression. Families suddenly started to rely and depend on their wives, mothers and sister, which pressured the females of the family and eventually led to conflicts within families. During this time many women had to leave school or put their education on pause to support their families. Other than white women, African American women were used to hard work. Even in the years of freedom African American women "have consistently worked outside their homes at rates far surpassing the labour force participation of white married women” (Helmbold, 634). However, during this time many African …show more content…
This last the product of centuries of adaptation to an environment that demanded humility as the price of survival." (Callis, …show more content…
African American women who choose this field of work were almost always undervalued, underpaid, overworked and in most cases unprotected. Some domestic workers also had to face abuse and maltreatment. The work was hard, but there was only little these employed women could do. Women depended on the low paid wages and most of the time had to accept these forms of treatment, since there were no laws for wages or working conditions in the domestic service. “It tends to be perceived as something other than regular employment, as not fitting the general framework of existing labour laws despite the fact that its origins go back to the "master-servant" relationship.” (ILO, 1). It was a hard time for women of African American descent. Even in the years of freedom they had to face extreme racial discrimination without any protection. Even though domestic service was almost always an all-day occupation, and domestic workers spent almost all of their time in the white family’s house, they worked isolated and had to dress in uniforms with black dresses and white caps so that no one would confuse them as part of the family. However, it was the desperation and the fear of starvation which forced African American women into these kind of employments, since they were still better than the problems that would come with