Federal Cooperation in Unemployment Relief

Report Outline
The Problem of Twelve Million Unemployed
Development of Federal Direct Relief Policy
Present Issues of Direct Relief Policy
Proposed Changes in Construction Loan Policy
Special Focus

The Problem of Twelve Million Unemployed

The current estimate of the American Federation of Labor gives twelve million as the number of wage-earners at present without employment in the United States. Forty-five million persons are living in poverty as a result of the loss of wages during the depression, Edward F. McGrady, legislative agent of the Federation testified before a Senate committee, February 3, 1933, and of these, fifteen million “are existing only with the help of charity.” McGrady's estimate of the number of persons dependent upon organized relief agreed with the earlier testimony of other witnesses before another Senate committee that “more than three million families are now on relief.”

Further increases in the numbers requiring assistance, due to the exhaustion of individual resources, have been predicted by state and local officials in charge of relief operations. Reports from cities for which statistics are available indicate that from one-fourth to one-third of the unemployed and their dependents are now receiving relief from public or private agencies and it is assumed that unless new opportunities for employment soon become available the proportion requiring relief may grow considerably. Detailed figures for the entire United States showing either the number receiving relief or the number unemployed are not obtainable. Estimates of unemployment are placed by some statisticians at totals much higher than the estimate of the American Federation of Labor. An estimate published by Business Week, January 18, 1933, placed the total at more than fifteen million, and available figures for a number of the larger industrial states suggest estimates of fourteen to sixteen million.

Experience in past years has shown that the number of persons needing relief is likely to reach its highest point annually in March. Witnesses before the Senate Committee on Manufactures stated early in January that, due to lack of funds or to inability to develop relief organizations quickly enough, many families in need had not yet been able to obtain relief. The opinion was expressed by Harry L, Hopkins, chairman of the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration of the State of New York, that it would be “a conservative estimate today that there are 500,000 families in the United States not getting relief who should be receiving it,”