Fewer Children, More Attention.

In the 1920s families were smaller than in the past and continued to get smaller: the average number of children born to a woman who lived the usual number of childbearing years was 3.56 in 1900, 3.17 in 1920, 2.5 in 1925, and 1.8 in 1935. There were fewer children in the population and more adults per child. These changes meant that adult attention could be focused on the individual child. For most families by the 1920s, children lived at home until they were fully grown and attended school longer than any generation in the past. The experience of children of the same age group was increasingly uniform. Childhood now tended to be quite leisured, sheltered from adult concerns, and focused on preparation for adulthood.

"Sacralized" Children.

New attitudes toward children and new economic conditions affecting them freed children from work and other adult responsibilities by the...