Designing for the Life Span Segment 2
Designing for the Life Span Segment 2 
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[D]
Transition & Change in the American Economy in the 20th Century.
The American Agrarian Economy- from the beginning through 1920.
Through to the beginning of the 20th Century, life was farm life for most people.
Americans lived at a subsistence level on small tracts of acreage where they provided for their families. Parents and children worked side by side to maintain their existence. Diseases of childhood were prevalent with losses in some families up to half the children. 30% of women on farms died giving birth. By the 1930s, farming as a way of life was in decline and older Americans who had been farmers found their skills were obsolete.
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At the beginning of the 20th century, 85% of the American population was engaged in subsistence family-farm agriculture. The term "subsistence" means that the farms were capable of supporting the family doing the farming, but did not provide the means to progress to any greater level of wealth. Since these farms were highly dependent upon elements outside the control of the farmers, weather conditions as well as disease and other factors determined their ability to survive or fail. The prevalence of childhood diseases claimed sometimes half the children in an agricultural family. Women struggled to bear children and survive. Over farming created the infamous dust bowl conditions in the middle west and forced thousands off their farms. The average lifespan was 40 years - largely due to childhood deaths. Farming then was a hard life.
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