Not everyone became poor immediately after the stock market crash of 1929. Indeed, some Americans remained well-off throughout the ten years of the Great Depression.
But many families soon fell on very hard times, as millions of workers lost their jobs. Tens of thousands of people lost their homes because they couldn’t afford to pay the mortgage, or the loan they took out to buy their house. From 1929 to 1933, the government did little to help its citizens.
