Great Depression: annual benefits compared to manufacturing wages U.S. 1933-1940

Following the inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, government relief spending increased drastically. In his first year in office, workers in major cities were receiving benefits equal to just over one-fifth of average manufacturing wages. By 1936, relief benefits had risen to over two-fifths of the value of manufacturing wages - this also coincided with a wage increase from around 17 U.S. dollars per week in 1933 to 23 U.S. dollars in 1936, which means that the total value of relief benefits more than doubled in these years.