The Effect of Liquidation of the WPA on Need for Assistance

L I Q U I D A T I O N OF T H E Work Projects Administration was ordered by the President on December 4, 1942, after a request for such action had been made by the agency. The order specified that all project operations were to be closed out by February 1, 1943, or as soon thereafter as possible. The agency was created by Executive Order on M a y 6, 1935, to operate in cooperation wi th local, State, and Federal sponsors a program of useful public works projects and to aid employable needy persons by providing work on such projects. After reaching a peak of 3 1/3 million in November 1938, the number of persons employed on projects financed from WPA funds had dropped to approximately 300,000 by December 1942. After 1938, the average annual level of WPA employment had declined; the rate of decline gained momentum in 1941 and 1942 when the expansion of the armed forces and of war industries greatly increased employment opportunities. Many WPA workers, some after retraining, found jobs in war and other essential industries; others obtained jobs in less essential occupations vacated by persons transferring to war industries or entering the armed forces. Although hundreds of thousands of WPA workers had thus found employment by December 1942, there was considerable question as to whether all the remaining 300,000 would be able to find work. Concern was expressed by some public welfare administrators and others as to the ability of public assistance agencies to meet the needs of the families who had been dependent on WPA earnings if the workers were unable to find regular employment.