Due to the economic and environmental conditions present in the Great Depression, people delayed, or decided against having children. This is shown through the provincial birth rate reported by vital statistics, which has been charted on the graph below. The graph shows the birth rate in Alberta from 1917 to 1950 in order to provide some context for the 1930s and so that the dip in the birth rate that occurs in the 1930s would be visually depicted.

This card is meant to make the connection between financial and economic difficulty and the decision to delay having children. Additionally, the work to save money was often led by the women of these families in their homes, as shared in oral history interviews done. This is consistent with what has been written by Lara Campbell and Katrina Srigley about women saving money and finding ways to cut costs.

Bibliography

Campbell, Lara. Respectable Citizens: Gender, Family, and Unemployment in Ontario's Great Depression. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009.

Government of Alberta. Annual Report of the Department of Public Health, Province of Alberta: 1933. Edmonton, AB: Queen's Printer, 1933, 10.

Government of Alberta. Annual Report of the Department of Public Health, Province of Alberta: 1937. Edmonton, AB: Queen's Printer, 1937, 9.

Government of Alberta. Annual Report of the Department of Public Health, Province of Alberta: 1942. Edmonton, AB: Queen's Printer, 1942, 12.

Government of Alberta. Annual Report of the Department of Public Health, Province of Alberta: 1946. Edmonton, AB: Queen's Printer, 1946, 14.

Government of Alberta. Annual Report of the Department of Public Health, Province of Alberta: 1950. Edmonton, AB: Queen's Printer, 1950, 15.

Srigley, Katrina. Breadwinning Daughters: Young Working Women in a Depression-Era City, 1929- 1939. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010.