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Effects: Women left the workplace to raise children; economy stimulated by demand for baby products and services; school enrollment shot up as the “baby boomers” reached school age causing a strain on the educational system
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A Changing Society
Ch. 28 Sec. 2 cont’d.
The Baby Boom Families grew with the postwar economy
soaring birthrate known as a baby boom; population rose nearly 20% during the 1950s
Causes: Husbands and wives postponed having children because of the Depression and World War II; higher incomes made couples think they could afford more children; advances in health care, nutrition, and vaccinations reduced the infant death rate
Effects: Women left the workplace to raise children; economy stimulated by demand for baby products and services; school enrollment shot up as the “baby boomers” reached school age causing a strain on the educational system
Expanding Suburbs Fringe of major cities=suburbs; 75% of
new homes built there during the ’50s Levittown—development on Long Island,
NY; William Levitt mass-produced 17,000 identical homes
Affordability and privacy made them attractive; not always available to minorities
Cars were more readily available; also big ole jet airliners (Steve Miller Band reference) replaced trains and ocean liners as the preferred method of long-distance travel
A Consumer Society Affluence wealth; people bought more
luxury items Appliances such as the dishwasher,
washing machine, and TV were showing up in more homes
Teens: caught on to fads like….
The hula hoop
The crew cut for boys
And poodle skirts for girls
And a new snack-pizza
An American Culture Television profoundly changed American
society, perhaps more than any other invention (until the home computer)
Billy Graham, a Baptist preacher, had evangelical specials on the networks; sentiment acknowledged that the postwar society was focused on the family
Popular TV Shows: The $64,000 Question
American Bandstand
I Love Lucy
And Leave It to Beaver
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