Hard Times Destroy Support Networks

John Marsh, 72, Belfast, New York, 1937
Elderly bachelor living in one room of an old house.  "Family dead or moved away." Library of Congress: America from the Great Depression to World War II Black-and-White Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945

Families couldn't support their members and often split up. "The divorce rate fell, for the simple reason that fewer people could afford one, but the rate of desertion soared. By 1940, over 1.5 million married couples were living apart." (American History Files) Hard times generated new waves of migration. Unemployed workers crossed the country to search for jobs, further dispersing families. Children were sent away to orphanages and older family members who had no income of their own were more likely to end up in the poorhouse or dependent on charity.