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A Living Wage from World War I Through the Onset of the Great Depression

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The Political Economy of a Living Wage

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in American Economic History ((AEH))

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Abstract

This chapter describes how the concept of a living wage became of greater importance during the 1920s through US participation in World War I. It first looks at how the federal government in the USA planned the economy to fight World War I and uncovers that a living wage was part of the plan. Then it will describe how reformers continued to promote a living wage during the period of reconstruction immediately after the war and will follow this promotion through the 1920s to its culmination into proposals for the federal government to end the Depression by managing the economy, much as it had during the war. These proposals also included a living wage.

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  1. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Sr. Mary’s City, Maryland, USA

    Donald Stabile

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Stabile, D. (2016). A Living Wage from World War I Through the Onset of the Great Depression. In: The Political Economy of a Living Wage. Palgrave Studies in American Economic History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32473-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32473-9_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-32472-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32473-9

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