In 1946, live births in the United States surged from 222,721 in January to 339,499 in October. By the end of the 1940s, about 32 million babies had been born, compared with 24 million in the 1930s. Annual births first topped four million in 1954 and did not drop below that figure until 1965, by which time four out of ten Americans were under age 20.
Many factors contributed to the baby boom. In the post-war years, couples that could not afford families during the Great Depression made up for lost time. The mood was now optimistic. Unemployment ended and the economy greatly expanded. Millions of veterans returned home and were forced to reintegrate into society.
To facilitate the integration process, Congress passed the G.I. Bill of Rights, which encouraged home ownership and investment in higher education through the distribution of loans to veterans at low or zero interest rates. The G.I. Bill enabled record numbers of people to finish high school and attend college. This led to an increase in stock of skills and yielded higher incomes to families.
These amazing photos from Blueberry Paula captured life of an Arizona family from 1950 to 1955.
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