Economic Growth 1945-1970

The Baby Boom• Baby boom (1945–

1965)—soaring birth rate after soldiers return (Population Explosion)

• Baby boom impacts economy and educational system

• Causes of Baby Boom:– Reunion of

husbands and wives

– Advances in medicine

– Decreasing of marriage age

– Confidence in economy

Automania and Highways• Cheap, plentiful

gas, easy credit, and advertising increase car sales

• No public transit in suburbs cause people to buy Cars

• The Interstate Highway System:

• Interstate Highway Act—nationwide highway network unites country (41,000 miles of expressway)

• Highways enable long-haul trucking, new towns, and family vacations

• Towns near highways prosper; those near older, smaller roads decline

Housing Crisis• 10 million returning

veterans face housing shortage

• Build suburbs—small residential communities around cities

• 1950s, 85% of new homes built in suburbs

• Levittown:• William Levitt used

assembly-line methods to mass-produce houses for less than 7,000 dollars

• Levittown was the first mass-produced suburb located in Long Island, New York.