Are we living in a silent depression? When I ask that question you may be thinking two things. First, what is a silent depression? And second, how is it possible we could be living in one? I have an answer to both. A silent depression is similar to the time of the Great Depression in the 1930s, except it’s worse and no one seems to be talking about it. Also, if you compare the costs of daily life now to those during the time of the Great Depression, you’d see that everything is much more grim.

The Great Depressions is known as being the worst economic era in history for the United States. This depression occurred because of the stock market crashing which at the time was a huge deal. Comparing this difficult time to what we are living through now may seem like a complex idea; however, looking at how much living costs have gone up because of inflation, it is clear that the two have similarities.

First, let’s look at the difference between the annual salaries at the peak of the Great Depression, and now. In 1930, the average annual salary was $4,887. If you change this to meet today’s inflation, the annual salary would be almost $85,000 for one person. In 2024, the average annual salary is $56,000. That is a substantial difference. People in 1930 were making almost $29,000 more than what we make today. When Americans were at their peak struggle, they were still making more money than we are in 2024.

Also, costs for all necessities were so much cheaper during the Great Depression. One example of this is on average gas was 10c per gallon, which translates to $1.73. Gas in 2024, is $3.55 on average. Another example is if you wanted to buy a new car, you would have to pay $860, or $15,000 on average, during the 1930s. Now, the average cost is $48,000. Lastly, in 1930 if you were to buy a new house you would be spending on average $3,900, which adjusts to $70,000. The average price today is $416,000. How crazy is it to think that we are needing to spend, on average, $379,000 more on just these three things, than people in the height of the Great Depression. All the while making significantly less money than they were. We aren’t just going through another depression, we are going through something much more terrible. 

There is no other way to put it. We are living in a time worse than the Great Depression. We are living in a Silent Depression. With inflation continuously rising, the prices on daily necessities are going to get even more expensive. Is it possible to get to a point where even the average working class American can’t afford essential items to live? This needs to be talked about more in order to find a way to control it.