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May 6

Works Progress Administration Created (1935)


On May 6, 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was created by Executive Order 7034 as part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. The New Deal was the name for all of the economic programs passed by President Roosevelt during the Great Depression. The WPA was created after Congress passed Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, and was intended to provide jobs and income to the unemployed during the Great Depression.

The Works Progress Administration was the largest agency created out of the New Deal. It employed millions of people to carry out public works projects, such as construction of public buildings and roads. The program also provided training for these people, and in some cases, adult education. Further, the WPA operated large literacy programs, fed children, and redistributed food, clothing and housing.

Almost all people who were unemployed were eligible for a job through the WPA. Jobs provided by the WPA all had hourly wages, and workers could not work more than 30 hours a week. Worker pay was based on three factors: (i) the region of the country, (ii) the degree of urbanization, and (iii) the individual's skill. Though women were encouraged to get jobs, husbands and wives were not encouraged to both work because this would take jobs away from others who were the sole breadwinners in their household.

At the peak of the program, 3.3 million people were employed by the WPA. At the end of the program, WPA projects totaled approximately $11.4 billion, with $4 billion spent on highways and roads, $1 billion spent on public buildings, $1 billion spent on utilities, and another $1 billion on welfare projects. Until Congress ended the WPA in 1943, the WPA was the largest employer in the United States.