The Great Depression (1929-1939) had reached its most destructive depths by 1933, with somewhere between 17 and 20 million people jobless. With so many unemployed, consumer spending halted, and the national economy collapsed. On national and local levels, governments were faced with a crisis that appeared to have no solutions. Americans were forced to try a range of experiments in order to obtain financial relief for individuals and the community. One such experiment involved “sharing the work”. Employers in Greenfield, Massachusetts, shortened the work week (or reduced the piece rate) for employees and the remaining hours were worked by those who would otherwise have been unemployed. While a total payroll was not increased, it was re-distributed amongst more workers and resulted in fewer families seeking economic relief from the town. The share-the-work campaign was promoted nationally as an emergency measure by many business leaders and even by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. While plans such as this may have had some effects locally, it was not until the United States entered World War II (1939-1945) that national spending on the production of military equipment put an end to the Great Depression.
Greenfield Daily Recorder-Gazette. “Share the Work Campaign Gets Under Way at Meeting.” January 15, 1933. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l06-008/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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