Editing Works Progress Administration (section)

==Employment==
[[File:WPA-Road-Development.jpg|thumb|left|WPA road development project]]

{{blockquote|These ordinary men and women proved to be extraordinary beyond all expectation. They were golden threads woven in the national fabric. In this, they shamed the political philosophy that discounted their value and rewarded the one that placed its faith in them, thus fulfilling the founding vision of a government by and for its people. All its people.|Nick Taylor, ''American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA''<ref name="Taylor">{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Nick |date=2008 |title=American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA, When FDR Put the Nation to Work |location=New York |publisher=[[Bantam Books]] |isbn=9780553802351}}</ref>{{Rp|530}}}}

The goal of the WPA was to employ most of the unemployed people on relief until the economy recovered. [[Harry Hopkins]] testified to Congress in January 1935 why he set the number at 3.5&nbsp;million, using [[Federal Emergency Relief Administration]] data. Estimating costs at $1,200 per worker per year ({{Inflation|US|1200|1935|fmt=eq|r=-3}}), he asked for and received $4&nbsp;billion (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|4|1935}}&nbsp;billion in {{Inflation/year|US}}). Many women were employed, but they were few compared to men.

In 1935 there were 20&nbsp;million people on relief in the United States. Of these, 8.3&nbsp;million were children under 16 years of age; 3.8&nbsp;million were persons between the ages of 16 and 65 who were not working or seeking work. These included housewives, students in school, and incapacitated persons. Another 750,000 were person age 65 or over.<ref name="Howard"/>{{Rp|562}} Thus, of the total of 20&nbsp;million persons then receiving relief, 13&nbsp;million were not considered eligible for employment. This left a total of 7&nbsp;million presumably employable persons between the ages of 16 and 65 inclusive. Of these, however, 1.65&nbsp;million were said to be farm operators or persons who had some non-relief employment, while another 350,000 were, despite the fact that they were already employed or seeking work, considered incapacitated. Deducting this 2&nbsp;million from the total of 7.15&nbsp;million, there remained 5.15&nbsp;million persons age 16 to 65, unemployed, looking for work, and able to work.<ref name="Howard"/>{{Rp|562}}

[[File:FDR-Hopkins-September-1938.jpg|thumb|right|FDR and Hopkins (September 1938)]]
Because of the assumption that only one worker per family would be permitted to work under the proposed program, this total of 5.15&nbsp;million was further reduced by 1.6&nbsp;million—the estimated number of workers who were members of families with two or more employable people. Thus, there remained a net total of 3.55&nbsp;million workers in as many households for whom jobs were to be provided.<ref name="Howard"/>{{Rp|562}}

The WPA reached its peak employment of 3,334,594 people in November 1938.<ref name="Taylor"/>{{Rp|547}} To be eligible for WPA employment, an individual had to be an American citizen, 18 or older, able-bodied, unemployed, and certified as in need by a local public relief agency approved by the WPA. The WPA Division of Employment selected the worker's placement to WPA projects based on previous experience or training. Worker pay was based on three factors: the region of the country, the degree of [[urbanization]], and the individual's [[Skill (labor)|skill]]. It varied from $19 per month to $94 per month, with the average wage being about $52.50 ({{Inflation|US|52.50|1938|fmt=eq|r=-2}}).<ref>"WPA Employment." [https://www.ggarchives.com/WPA/index.html Gjenvick Archives: The Future of Our Past, Social and Cultural History]. (2000) {{unverifiable|date=December 2024}}</ref> The goal was to pay the local prevailing wage, but limit the hours of work to 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week; the stated minimum being 30 hours a week, or 120 hours a month.<ref name="Howard">{{cite book |last=Howard |first=Donald S. |date=1973 |orig-year=1943 |title=The WPA and Federal Relief Policy |location=New York |publisher=Da Capo Press |oclc=255072517|url=https://www.russellsage.org/publications/wpa-and-federal-relief-policy }}</ref>{{Rp|213}}

Being a voter or a Democrat was not a prerequisite for a relief job.  Federal law specifically prohibited any political discrimination against WPA workers. Vague charges were bandied about at the time.<ref>The most frequent claim is that Kentucky Democrats purchased WPA votes in the 1935 gubernatorial campaign. For a refutation see Robert J. Leupold, "The Kentucky WPA: Relief and Politics, May–November 1935," ''Filson Club History Quarterly'' (1975) 49#2 pp 152–168.</ref>  The consensus of experts is that: "In the distribution of WPA project jobs as opposed to those of a supervisory and administrative nature politics plays only a minor in comparatively insignificant role."<ref name="Howard" /> However those who were hired were reminded at election time that FDR created their job and the Republicans would take it away. The great majority voted accordingly.<ref name="c005">{{cite journal | last=Sheppard | first=Si | title='If it wasn't for Roosevelt you wouldn't have this job': The Politics of Patronage and the 1936 Presidential Election in New York | journal=New York History | publisher=New York State Historical Association | volume=95 | issue=1 | year=2014 | issn=0146-437X | jstor=newyorkhist.95.1.41 | pages=41–69 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/newyorkhist.95.1.41 | access-date=2024-12-28}}</ref>