From the beginning of 1930, due to the depression, over a quarter of all wage-earning Americans were unemployed. Because there was not any compensation or insurance for the unemployed, so when they stopped making money, they stopped spending money. Since the amount of unemployed citizens was so high, when they stopped spending, the consumer industry collapsed. Not only was the government not doing anything to help the unemployed, but there wasn't much they could do to help themselves. The extent of their available options included selling produce on street corners and eating from charity bread lines.