Works Progress Administration

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was an American New Deal agency. It provided paid jobs to the unemployed during the Great Depression in the United States. It was liquidated on June 30, 1943, as a result of low unemployment during World War II. Between 1935 and 1943, theWPA employed 8. 5 million people.

About Works Progress Administration in brief

Summary Works Progress AdministrationThe Works Progress Administration (WPA) was an American New Deal agency. It provided paid jobs to the unemployed during the Great Depression in the United States. It was liquidated on June 30, 1943, as a result of low unemployment during World War II. The WPA was a national program that operated its own projects in cooperation with state and local governments, which provided 10–30% of the costs. Most of the jobs were in construction, building more than 1 million km of streets and over 10,000 bridges, in addition to many airports and much housing. In its most famous project, Federal Project Number One, the WPA employed musicians, artists, writers, actors and directors in arts, drama, media, and literacy projects. Archaeological investigations under WPA were influential in the rediscovery of pre-Columbian Native American cultures, and the development of professional archaeology in the US. The agency was largely shaped by Harry Hopkins, supervisor of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and close adviser to Roosevelt. The goal of the W PA was to employ most of the unemployed until the economy recovered. In 1935, there were 20 million people on relief in the U.S., with 8 million under 16 years of age; 3 million were under 16. In 1938, the number of unemployed people was 3.5 million, with 3 million children between 16 and 16 years old. The number of people using relief in 1935 was 3 million, and in 1938, it was 5 million, using 3 million people of 16 years and under.

In 1940, the total number of employed people was 8.5million, with 2 million children under 16, and 2 million adults of 16 and over. Between 1935 and 1943, theWPA employed 8. 5 million people. Many women were employed, but they were compared to few men who were between the ages of 65 and 65. In the 1930s and 1940s, the average wage for a WPA worker was USD 1,200 per year (or USD 4 billion per year ). In the 1940s and 1950s, wages were typically set to the prevailing wages in each area, with hourly wages typically set at around $1,500 per year. In 1950s and 1960s, hourly wages were set at about $2,000 per year, or about $3,000 a year, depending on the area and the wage rate. In 1960s and 1970s, wage rates were around $4,000 to $5,000. In 1970s and 1980s, average wages were about $6,500. In 1980s and 1990s, some WPA workers were paid $7,500 to $8,500 a year. WPA projects included the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Federal Writers’ Project, the Historical Records Survey and the Federal Theatre Project. The largest single project was the Federal Music Project, which gave more than 225,000 performances. The projects were dedicated to five projects dedicated to these were: the Federal Artists Project, Federal Art Project, and Federal Theater Project.