Transition from The Gilded Age
Living standards during World War I were considerably different than they are today. Incomes were lower, even relative to expenses, and working conditions were tough. World War I started about fifteen years after the Gilded Age, which ended in 1900. This was a period of rapid economic growth, industrialization, and increasing inequality. Additionally, increased European immigration and a slew of technological innovations, that would become commonplace in the next decade, marked a new era after the turn of the century. Among these innovations were the automobile, telephone, airplane, radio, wireless telegraph, phonograph, movies, and the air conditioner. Regardless of this rapid development, nearly seventy percent of the working population engaged in farm work or other physical labor at this time.
Living Standard Incomes, Expenses, and Working Conditions
The average income in 1915 was approximately $700 per year, while a Model T automobile, the most affordable option, was approximately $400. The cost of a oneway trip on a steamship across the Atlantic in 3rd class was about $30. A first class ticket on the HMS Lusitania, the most luxurious and fastest cruise liner, ranged from $150 to $350. While this might seem cheap, it was almost the price of a new car.
Working conditions were often dangerous with no paid time off and few holidays. The labor participation rate for adults 19-65 was ninety percent and over fifty percent for ages 14-19. Unemployment insurance, social security, and many labor regulations had not yet been enacted. Union membership was increasing as was the use of organized strikes to negotiate labor terms. This caused a growing awareness of social class and class identity around this time.
Living Standards Compared with Today
Adjusted for inflation and purchasing power for comparable products today, the average worker was paid less for more dangerous and physically demanding labor. In addition, they had less job security and often faced unemployment rates approaching ten percent. Furthermore, families often lived with three generations in a household and pooled their earnings. Greater percentages of their monthly pay went to buy food and clothing. Vacations, nights out on the town, and luxuries were a rarity for most people.
Life would become even more difficult for Europeans effected by the War, beginning in 1914. In the years to come, most Americans’ living standards would improve, but also fluctuate with economic recessions followed by rapid growth, eventually collapsing a little more than a decade after the end of the Great War. Despite the differences more than a hundred years ago, the rapidly evolving nature of work, widening gaps between rich and poor, new technologies, mass migrations, and increasing levels of uncertainty, are similar to today.