Chapter 18: The Postwar Era

Chapter 18 examines how the economy in the United States shifted from wartime production to peacetime affluence, creating for many Americans a new, suburban lifestyle in the postwar years.

Section 1 describes how the United States maintained economic growth in a peacetime economy. Wartime production had lifted the United States out of the Depression, but Americans were forced to ration and postpone purchases. After the war, consumers eagerly purchased appliances, televisions, and automobiles. Many veterans increased their standard of living by taking advantage of the educational benefits, low-interest mortgages, and small-business assistance provided under the GI Bill. Business mergers created conglomerates, and many white-collar workers sought the benefits and wages that corporate life offered. Farming, too, became big business as corporate farms nudged small-farm families out of agriculture.

Section 2 explores how economic prosperity during the postwar years evolved into a new way of life for many American families. During the 1950s, Americans migrated from cities to new suburban neighborhoods characterized by affordable homes, open spaces, and community spirit. While millions of white, middle-class families created a new lifestyle outside of the city, developers typically excluded minority families from home ownership in the suburbs. Suburban values focused on the family, and parents gave their baby boom children all the advantages of their new prosperity. Society pressured women to devote themselves to their families, but many were not content with their roles as homemakers. Millions of women entered the job market while still maintaining their roles at home, usually settling for low-paying jobs with little opportunity for advancement.

Section 3 explains that the prosperity enjoyed by middle-class Americans during the 1950s and 1960s contrasted sharply with the poverty suffered by millions of "invisible" poor Americans. Living in the affluent suburbs, middle-class Americans were unaware of the many groups of people, young and old, rural and urban, suffering in the cycle of poverty. The poor included minority groups who faced prejudice and discrimination that made economic barriers seem impenetrable. Technology and business changes forced some groups into poverty. Unlike the poor during the Depression, the postwar poor had no massive social welfare policies to help them break out of poverty. Having no political voice, the poor remained invisible.