The Changing Quality Of Life, 1917-1980

The ww2, post-war affluence and growth, 1941-1969

• Huge demand for consumer goods people had done without during the war
• production increased from $213 billion worth of goods in 1945 to $284 billion in 1950
• business boom encouraged to raise wages and expand workforces
• gov hard on strikes e.g. coal miners on strike Truman took control of the mines and when rail workers struck to support miners Truman took control of the rail work and when rail workers stranded 90,000 passengers Truman told congress to draft all strikers into the army all backdown
• postwar baby boom caused a demand for baby products 
• 1947 nappy sales were $32 million 1957 $50 million
• farmers continued to farm subsidies
• gov spending rose steadily throughout Truman's 'fair deal'
• inflation was rising faster than people's wages
• Trueman passed the 1946 employment act which set up the CEA to advise the president on the economy

The ww2, post-war affluence and growth, 1941-1969

• The FED put controls on the money supply to keep inflation low
• baby boom fueled by men returning from war
• inner cities are seen as dangerous so people moved to the suburbs
• a visual sign of the impact of an economical change in the USA
• 1956 highways act allowed 41,000 miles of interstate highways
• the levvit company specialised in mass-produced prefabricated houses
• levvit towns appeared in the north east one in the long island had 17,000 homes for 82,000 residents
• 1950's the US losing its place as the country for technological innovation
• gov wanted interest rates to stay low so increased the money supply
• during 1960's USA lost its place as the most important exporter

`the challenges of the 1970's

• Stagflation is when a business stops expanding and stagnates while inflation increases
• the cost of raw materials increased with inflation
• gov couldn't cope with economic problems in 1970 and saw 3 big economic crisis caused by rising food and fuel prices
• 1979 money supply contained by FED, not the gov
• two fuel crises of the 1970s
• 1773 fuel crisis saw a 70% rise in price then banned exports to countries that supported Israel 
• 1979 fuel crisis shortage of fuel lasted 3 months 
• confidence crisis when inflation was rising and unemployment levels rising from 5.8% in 1978 to 7.1% 1979 people scared to spend
• carter tried to do his own fireside chats like roosevelt 

The standard of living 1917-1941

• life expectancy rose
• average wage rose
• 1920 consensus 6,700,000 owned their homes 1940 consensus 15,200,000 owned their own home
• 1940 2.6% of homes had no toilet of any kind, 59.7% had indoor flushing toilet, 69.9% had running water
• 1940 78.7% of homes had electric light
• 1940 48.8% home cooked by gas with 5.4% with electricity
• 1940 42% of homes had central heating
• 1940 44.1% had an electric fridge
• 1940 82.8% had a radio
• 1920's onward people shopped more in chain shops
• 1929 retail shops sold 21.9% of all goods sold in the USA
• death rates from polio smallpox tuberculosis and whooping cough dropped steadily
• 1927 only 27.1% of children aged 14-17 were going to school

WW2 and growth of the consumer society, 1941-1960

• war reduced consumer spending and industry changed to wartime products
• to begin TV's were small and expensive about $200 in 1948
• 1960 85% of homes had a TV
• TVs brought entertainment into the home and families went out less
• pre-cooked dinners developed to be eaten whilst watching the TV
• pester power was used in tv with child-targeted adverts to get the children asking parents to buy the goods
• women also targeted by 'pester power' with domestic devices like washing machines and vacuum cleaners
• after ww2 people ate more synthetic foods and sugar and fats that they were deprived of.

Anti-poverty policies and economic divisions,1961-1980

• 1960's+1970's hard for blacks to get jobs
• affirmative action is seen to be chosen by your race
• 1966 12% white and 41% black Americans living under the poverty line
• Kennedy outlined antipoverty (new frontier) policies but was not passed before his assassination
• johnson introduced his great society policies  to fight the war on poverty
• set up a new agency with 130+ staff with a budget of $960 million to run policies
• the criticism that 'great society policies not working
• black men are seen as driving force in inner city riots 
• Nixon stated 'workfare not welfare'
• Nixon cut welfare benefits
• benefit claims were revised so those claiming lost out
• Nixon tried to replace 'great society' with a work-focused welfare program
• 1978 carter set up the National consumer cooperative bank giving low-interest loans to cooperative organizations largely in urban areas
• in carters last 2 years he had tax cuts to help the economy but his administration lost confidence in him and was unpopular in congress

How significant were the changes in leisure and travel 1917-1980

• The fair labour standards act made 40 hours a week the maximum
• 1920-1930's very little leisure time
• movie theatres  stadiums and speakeasies sprang up and eating out became popular
• cinemas in the south were segregated and on the average smaller than the cinemas in new york
• growing car ownership meant people to go to national parks and go hiking
• spectator sports became very popular
• cigarette manufacturers were producing collectable baseball cards
• baseball most popular sport at the time, Yankees favourite team and baby ruth star player
• Radio coverage sold sport and sport sold radios
• there were more office workers than factory workers (35 mill v 32 mill)
• 40% married women working raising  family's income
• on average Americans spend 1/6 of their income on leisure
• Baby boom brought more theme parks opening like Disney land in 1955
• shopping became a leisure activity
• 1980 computers had been developed 
• 1980 only middle-class families could afford a home computer

How significant were the changes in leisure and travel 1917-1980

• all sports benefited by TV at first
• baseball TV rights were selling at $1,000 a game
• major baseball league attendance rose from 330million in1970's to 460 million in the 1980's

What was the impact of the USA becoming a car-owning culture car

• factories expanded and employed more workers and produced spare parts the need for workers pushed wages up and car prices went down
• more petrol stations made in 1929 there were 121,500 filling stations that made $1,800 million by 1967 there was 216,000 that made $22,709 a year
• roads improved and expanded 
• diners and motels sprang up along the growing number of roads
• the rise in travelling salesmen
• Southdale opened in 1956 was the first air conditioned mall 
• drive-in restaurants and drive-in movies increased 
• by 1954 there were 3,800  drive in movies making 16% of all box office receipts
• the car allowed people to travel interstate and see big attractions like Disney land
• American dream was new car ownership and manufacturers aimed to have people buy a new car each year
• poor Americans suffered as non-car transport shrank and busses were crowded
• 1970's cities had too many cars and traffic grew with rising pollution and 2 fuel crisis led to fuel rationing

What was the impact of increased air travel

• 1915 a seaplane flew from st Petersburg to Tampa 18 miles in 23 minutes carrying one passenger at a time for $5
• early planes unpressurized so couldn't go above 10,000 feet
• smoking was allowed and caused fires and accidents so many were scared to fly
• western air express carried 267 passengers in 1926 and over 25,000 in 1929
• it wasn't until after ww2 commercial travel took flight
• by ww2 the jet engine was invented and radar discovered helping piolets fly in bad weather
• cold war led to competition between USA + USSR in many technological fields
• first being 747 flight carried up to 450 passengers
• 1978 deregulation act ended federal control over various airlines including pricing routes buyouts and mergers