Names of people in your group:

Living Through the Depression

Directions: You will recreate a family budget for the late 1920s and early 1930s. You might need
a calculator for this. By designing a budget and then adjusting when the economy drops, you can
experience the anxiety, fear and frustration everyday Americans would have felt! Work through
each step together.
Part 1: The Roaring Twenties Family (1928)
1. Record the names and ages of your family members. What is the job of the head of household?

Part 2: The Roaring Twenties Budget (1928)

2. It is 1928. The head of your household makes a profit of $________________/year (after
taxes).
Break down the costs of your annual budget below:
Example of the math: 30 % of $3000 = 3000 x 30/100 (.30) = $900
Budget Item
Food
Clothing
Housing
Medical Care
Transportation
Miscellaneous
Savings
Total

Budget % Dollar Amount

30%
15%
30%
4%
10%
6%
5%
100%

3. Assume you have lived on this budget for many years. Where would your savings be after
two years?
five years?
ten years?

4. What is your monthly food budget? (Divide annual food budget by 12)
$______________________
What is your monthly miscellaneous budget? $_____________________________
What is your monthly transportation budget? $_____________________________
Use the Price List to pick out the food, gasoline, tickets, toiletries, etc., you would need in a
month. Your total purchases for each budget must be within $1 of your budget and you may not
go over budget.
Also, you must buy a car. Every self-respecting American owns a car. Which car can you afford?

Food
Budget $________

Misc. Budget
$________

Transportation
Budget $______

Items

Total Monthly
Cost

Part III. After the Crash Reality Check (1930)

It is now mid-way through 1930. The stock market has crashed and thousands of banks have
failed after the bank panic. One of these banks, The Bank of the United States, was where you
kept your savings. You have lost the last ten years of savings. How much money did you lose:
$___________________________

5. Americans are still expected to work hard and make sacrifices. President Hoover believes in
rugged individualism and so, there is no help coming your way. Luckily, you still have your
job but your salary has been reduced. How much has your salary been reduced to?
$______________________________

6. Design a new monthly budget based on your reduced wages. (Divide your new annual budget
by 12)
BUT DID I FORGET TO MENTIONyour mortgage/rent is fixed and so your housing
costs are the same as 1928, regardless of your reduced salary.
Budget Item
Food
Clothing
Housing
Medical Care
Transportation
Miscellaneous
Savings
Total

Old
New
Dollar Amount
find that,
BudgetYou
% will
Budget
% since your
housing costs have not
30%
decreased, the old numbers no
15% longer work. Reduce the budget
30% percentage
FIXED
for each item until
4%
the numbers work. (Example,
10% you can no longer afford to
spend 30% of your annual
6%
budget on food unless you make
5%
100% cuts elsewhere)
100%

7. Do you still have a savings? If so, where will you keep it? If not, why did you cut it?

8. What cuts did you make to your budget? How did you decide? How will these cuts affect your
family?
9. Using your new budget and the Price List, choose your new monthly items. Make sure the
totals are within $1. (NOTE: starving your family is not an option nor is depriving them of
necessary nutrition.)
Food
Budget $________
Items

Total Monthly
Cost

Misc. Budget
$________

Transportation
Budget $______

10. What changes did you make to your monthly expenses on the new budget? What items did
you get rid of? How might this affect your family?

11. Your old refrigerator finally quit. The current market price is $99.50. Where can you take
from your budget to buy a new fridge by the end of the month? How will you need to adjust?

ORIf you decide a fridge is too expensive, how will this affect the food you are able to buy?

12. Congratulations! Your wife/daughter/grandmother/niece/sister is pregnant! In 1930, the first

year of a babys life would cost approximately $884 but, because you are so thrifty, cut your
costs to about $700. Where can you find this money in your budget? What will you have to cut
from your budget? How will this affect your family?

Part 4: The Worst Years of the Great Depression (1932)

By 1932, unemployment has soared to more than 25%.

1 in 4 men will lose their job.

2 in 4 men will have their salary reduced by half.
1 in 4 men will not have their salary personally affected.

See Ms. Karlin when you are ready to know what 1932 holds for you.

You have lost your job. (1 in 4 men)

1. Where do you and your family go with your new life & situation? Does it change?

2. What difficult decisions did you have to make over the last few years? What surprised you
about this activity?

3. How did the stock market crash affect you, even if you didnt own any stocks?

You have had your original 1930 salary reduced by half to $____________/year. (2 in 4
men)

1. How will you have to change your lifestyle based on your new salary?

2. What difficult decisions did you have to make over the last few years? What surprised you
about this activity?

3. How did the stock market crash affect you, even if you didnt own any stocks?

Your salary is still the same as it was in 1930. (1 in 4 men)

1. What difficult decisions did you have to make over the last few years? What surprised you
about this activity?

2. What challenges do you face now that werent an issue in 1928?

3. How did the stock market crash affect you, even if you didnt own any stocks?

NAME: __________________________
GREAT DEPRESSION SIMULATION REFLECTION
Complete this individually after your 1930s family has completed the simulation.
1. What sacrifices did your family need to make as a result of your income realities? What
was the hardest thing to give up?
2. What would it have been like to live on this budget?
3. What expenses does a modern American family have? How does it compare to a
depression-era family?
4. What does poverty look like in modern America?
5. Would it be more challenging to face poverty during the Great Depression or today?
Why?
6. How concerned should Americans be about poverty in modern America?
Unemployment? Why?

Jobs and salaries

1928 Salary

1932 Salary

Construction Worker

3,000

2,200

Railroad Worker

3,600

2,600

Farmer

3,200

2,400

Teacher

2,300

1,800

Construction Worker
1928 Salary: $3,000 (after taxes)
Family Members:
John, age 36

Mary, age 31

John Jr, age 10

Helen, age 12

James, age 9

Dorothy, age 7

Construction Worker
1928 Salary: $3,000 (after taxes)
Family Members:
John, age 36

Mary, age 31

John Jr, age 10

Helen, age 12

James, age 9

Dorothy, age 7

Railroad Worker
1928 Salary: $3,600 (after taxes)
Family Members:
William, age 39

Anna, age 36

Robert, age 16

Margaret, age 16

Joseph, age 14

Ruth, age 11

George, age 4

Railroad Worker
1928 Salary: $3,600 (after taxes)
Family Members:
William, age 39

Anna, age 36

Robert, age 16

Margaret, age 16

Joseph, age 14

Ruth, age 11

George, age 4

Farmer
1928 Salary: $3,200 (after taxes)
Family Members:
James, age 35

Margaret, age 36

Charles, age 15

Mildred, age 17

Edward, age 12

Anna, age 13

Frank, age 10

Elizabeth, age 8

Farmer
1928 Salary: $3,200 (after taxes)
Family Members:
James, age 35

Margaret, age 36

Charles, age 15

Mildred, age 17

Edward, age 12

Anna, age 13

Frank, age 10

Elizabeth, age 8

Teacher
1928 Salary: $2,300 (after taxes)
Family Members:
George, age 31

Helen, age 30

Thomas, age 8

Frances, age 10
Virginia, age 4

Teacher
1928 Salary: $2,300 (after taxes)
Family Members:
George, age 31

Helen, age 30

Thomas, age 8

Frances, age 10
Virginia, age 4

Construction Worker
1932 Salary: $2,200 (after taxes)
Family Members:
John, age 38

Mary, age 33

John Jr, age 12

Helen, age 14

James, age 11

Dorothy, age 9

Construction Worker
1932 Salary: $2,200 (after taxes)
Family Members:
John, age 38

Mary, age 33

John Jr, age 12

Helen, age 14

James, age 11

Dorothy, age 9

Railroad Worker
1932 Salary: $2,600 (after taxes)
Family Members:
William, age 41

Anna, age 38

Robert, age 18

Margaret, age 18

Joseph, age 16

Ruth, age 13

George, age 6

Railroad Worker
1932 Salary: $2,600 (after taxes)
Family Members:
William, age 41

Anna, age 38

Robert, age 18

Margaret, age 18

Joseph, age 16

Ruth, age 13

George, age 6

Farmer
1932 Salary: $2,400 (after taxes)
Family Members:
James, age 37

Margaret, age 38

Charles, age 17

Mildred, age 19

Edward, age 14

Anna, age 15

Frank, age 12

Elizabeth, age 10

Farmer
1932 Salary: $2,400 (after taxes)
Family Members:
James, age 37

Margaret, age 38

Charles, age 17

Mildred, age 19

Edward, age 14

Anna, age 15

Frank, age 12

Elizabeth, age 10

Teacher
1932 Salary: $1,800 (after taxes)
Family Members:
George, age 33

Helen, age 32

Thomas, age 10

Frances, age 12
Virginia, age 6

Teacher
1932 Salary: $1,800 (after taxes)
Family Members:
George, age 33

Helen, age 32

Thomas, age 10

Frances, age 12
Virginia, age 6