How did people stay alive in the great depression?
Some people were able to keep their jobs. Others had to find any work available and that would include work that paid small wages and work that provided food or shelter for work received. A much larger segment of the population lived and worked on farms at the time. Here families were able to raise some food crops, chickens, eggs, and small livestock which helped feed there families. They could also sell excess food items. My family lived in a small coastal town during the depression. They obtained much of their food by fishing, crabbing and raising a vegetable garden. My Great Grandmother, who was widowed with 5 young children to raise, took in washing from people in town who had jobs and money. Often this paid as little as $.25 for a batch of hand washed ( wash tub and scrub board) laundry. Somehow, between this income, home grown vegetables and seafood they caught or were given, they survived.
