Economic pressures were seen in the emotional states of husband and wife, including explosive tempers and depression. Spouses on edge were easily provoked into hostile exchanges with other family members in a cycle destructive to family stability. Economic stress resulted in hostility, which led to conflict between family adults, resulting in a decline in marital happiness, which led to more hostility, etc., etc. Stresses such as these can be manageable in the short run, with current hostilities taken as a debit against the bank of good will built up over the many years of good times. But these families struggled economically for years, with memories of their good life together steadily fading from memory.
Economic pressures have a negative effect on adults as parents as well.
Many studies have shown that exposure to parental conflict is hard on children, with negative effects in social, academic and emotional development. In addition, adults who are depressed and irritable often make poor parents. Parents under economic pressure are likely to be distracted and minimally involved in the parenting role until the children get involved in serious misbehavior. Then the parental response is an angry outburst with harsh discipline. Such parents present an inconsistent front of parenting, vaccillating between noninvolvement and overreaction.