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The Affluent Society, 1945-60

The Affluent Society, 1945-60. Measuring and Explaining Prosperity The Growth of Suburbia The Family Ideal and the Reality The Other America. Some measures of prosperity . GNP doubled during 1950s Average worker’s income grew 35% between 1945 and 1960

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The Affluent Society, 1945-60

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  1. The Affluent Society, 1945-60 • Measuring and Explaining Prosperity • The Growth of Suburbia • The Family Ideal and the Reality • The Other America

  2. Some measures of prosperity • GNP doubled during 1950s • Average worker’s income grew 35% between 1945 and 1960 • Americans, 6% of world’s population, consume 33% of its production • By 1960, 62% of population owned homes; 75% automobiles, 87% TVs • Higher education democratized

  3. Explaining Prosperity • Federal spending (17% of GNP in 1950s, 1% of GNP in 1929) • Defense spending about ½ of federal budget • New technology—new industries • Automation—rising productivity • U.S. dominance in the international economy • A global demand for U.S. products • Cheap oil and other raw materials

  4. Explaining Prosperity • Consumer credit $8.4 billion (1946) to $45 billion (1958) • Government programs boost consumption • GI Bill: $14.5 billion, 1945-56 • Housing subsidies: FHA and VA • Social security • Labor unions

  5. Growth of Suburbia

  6. Growth of Suburbia • Mass-production construction • Government subsidies through loans, income tax deductions, highway construction • Car-centered • homogeneity Levittown

  7. The Suburbs and Car Culture

  8. The Family Ideal: the Baby Boom • 1930s: 2.4 children • 1950s: 3.2 children • 1965: 41% of U.S. population is under age 20

  9. The Family Ideal

  10. The Family Ideal • Strict gender roles • Early marriage • “Being subordinate to men is part of being feminine.” “Women who ask for equality fight nature.”

  11. The Family Ideal . . . and the Reality

  12. The Family Ideal . . . and the Reality • By 1960, twice as many women worked outside the home as in 1940 • One-third of married women employed • The Kinsey reports • Playboy challenges male commitment to the family ideal

  13. The Other America • % of poor families fell from 34% in 1947 to 22% in 1960— • Still 35 million Americans were poor: one-third of the poor lived in rural areas, including 2 million migrant farm workers 8 million of the poor were elderly

  14. Why did the Other America fail to share in the affluent society? • Urban decline • Limitations of Social Security and union organization • Limitations of public housing (1949 Housing Act authorized 810,000 units; only 320,000 built by 1960 • Government lending policies: “red-lining” • Urban renewal = poor removal

  15. Why did the Other America fail to share in the affluent society? • Indian policies: termination and relocation • Mexican Americans: the bracero program and periodic deportations • Legal discrimination against all minorities

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