They say history repeats itself, and we learn from what happened. But who would think that one of the most devastating moments of the 20th Century would be happening now? A question has arisen these days, “Is the Great Depression repeating itself, right now in 2011?”
To answer this question, I faced the facts. Around the depression 250,000 children were considered homeless. Many teenagers had to live on their own because their families couldn’t support themselves. Today there is somewhere around 1.35 million a night.
These numbers may seem extremely different, but I also needed to take account the amount of people in the world today. The US census in 1930 says there were 122,775,046 people in the US. The 2010 census says there are 308,745,538 people in the US. I calculated the percents, and .2% of the populations in 1930 were homeless children and .4% now. So homeless children have nearly doubled since the depression.
This brings me back to my original question. “Is the Great Depression happening again?” Possibly, yes. But it may not just be poverty. There could be other causes to homelessness besides poverty. But the effects of whatever is happening should be fixed. Please comment and discuss the following topic if you wish.
We are definately going through a depression now because so many people are without jobs and homes. You've written a great blog!
ReplyDeleteMonica
Wow these statistics are really advanced to whomever wrote them. This is a really in-depth analysis of the comparison between then and now. I fell though, that history is not repeating itself although it is partaking in similar actions. Intersting idea and I really like the blog.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the statistics of the number and percentage of homeless children then and now are quite interesting, I personally do not see how that relates the situation to the Great Depression. I think there are two separate questions here,"Are we going through a second Great Depression?" and "Did the depression then and the depression now effect the number of homeless children in America?" Although the first answer could be yes, you would need more research for the second answer.
ReplyDeleteCheck out this link ... Ohio's "report card" on homelessness ...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.homelesschildrenamerica.org/pdf/report_cards/short/oh_short.pdf
Great job, girls! Keep up the good work! People won't help until they understand how serious the problem is.
this is is a very serious situation in the US and frankly all over the world. I wonder if there are any organizations dedicated to homeless kids/teens who are living on their own?
ReplyDelete