The impact of the Great Economic Crisis of the 1930s on agricultural and industrial incomes (on the example of the Kielce Voivodeship)

Abstract

A symptom of the Great Depression was the change in nominal and real wages. In agriculture, a decline in the nominal wages of workers was recorded from 1928/1929, and of white-collar workers from 1931. In industry the wages of labourers started to decline from 1929 and managerial and professional positions from 1931.
The decline in nominal incomes in agriculture and industry was gradual and affected different categories of workers unequally. The reductions were mainly related to the monetary part of earnings. As a result of the decline in nominal wages, there was a "flattening of wages". In agriculture, it took on considerable proportions. The individual real wages of workers increased, but the wages of individual occupational categories fell.
A high percentage of workers and lower functionaries received starvation wages. A common occurrence during the Great Depression was the non-payment and irregular payment of wages to employees, contrary to the terms of collective bargaining agreements. The "expensive" workers were replaced by "cheap" labourers. Employers carried out both mass redundancies and individual firings. As a consequence of the loss of employment, employees lost not only the monetary part of their earnings, but also the non-monetary part, of which the most severe loss was the company apartment.