Rich and Poor.

The new century brought a tremendous influx of immigrants, growth in the economy, and an explosion of new businesses and technologies. Women in the slums of the large cities and those on farms struggled to feed, shelter, and clothe their families, while middle-class women whose husbands worked in business or government offices lived in comfortable homes with hired help. Their children went to schools and enjoyed warm food and new clothes, while children of the poor worked for pennies and attended school erratically. At the other extreme, wealthy women, whose numbers grew in the first decade of the century, had domestic staffs, several homes, and plenty of time to supervise their families' active social lives. The disparity between the working poor and the idle rich had never been more glaring than it was as the new century opened.

European Influence.