From watching the movie "Cinderella Man," one can see the effects the Great Depression had on families during that time period. The Great Depression caused many social problems. I believe the Great Depression had the biggest impact on men. In those days, the men were the ones who worked and the women stayed home. With so little jobs and so many needs, men felt like they were failing their families. We see this in the guy that wouldn't show up to his kid's birthday party because he was ashamed he couldn't have thrown the party himself. Some men, like Jim, have to fake that they were not injured in order to get a job, like when Jim painted his cast so he could get a job at the docks. The quality and quantity of clothing people wore changed during this time period. People went from wearing nice clothes to wearing the cheapest material money can buy, and having as few clothing items as they can survive with having. We see this when Jim starts off with wearing all nice clothes and goes to wearing what we would consider "rags" and he only owns one pair of socks. Also, if you pay attention to their dresser, in the beginning it is covered in jewelry and jewels, but during the GD, it is bare. People had to sell all of their valuables just to pay the bills. Housing went through a major change during the GD period. Many people lost their homes and ended up having to send their kids away to family members who could afford to take care of them. There were housing areas called Hoovervilles that were very dirty and violent, with lots of fighting and fires being set. We see this when Jim goes to visit his friend that went to live in the Hooverville and his friend got killed within the violence that was going on. For those that did live in houses or apartments, they had to live in really small and cheap spaces, and all of the kids had to share one bed. We see this when Jim's kids had to sleep all in one bed in the kitchen/living room. The crime rate also went up during the GD. People who just a few years earlier wouldn't dream of breaking the law were found stealing food for their families, like when Jim's son stole from the butcher. We also see this when kids tear down a fence for wood. The government gave money to those who needed it, because of the Federal Relief Act, but im sure that even then most men didn't go there because they felt to ashamed, like how Jim looked ashamed when he had to borrow money from them. Other things we see in the movie are people losing everything they owned and the soup lines running out of soup. The GD was a very trying time for many people.
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