How many people were affected by the Great Depression?

It is very difficult to come up with a number for how many people were affected by the Great Depression, because millions of people were affected in many different ways. In the United States, unemployment reached at least 25% in the depths of the Depression in 1933. But this number, astronomical as it may be, does not tell the whole story. Millions more people who did not lose their jobs suffered cuts in pay or were forced to take lower-paying jobs. Many others simply gave up looking for work, and were not counted among the workforce. The children and family members of unemployed people were affected as well. Birthrates went down, funding for public services like schools was cut, and many people suffered the psychological effects of poverty. Many families fortunate enough to make ends meet were called upon to help family members who could not. In short, the Depression affected many, perhaps almost all, people in the United States, in indirect and direct ways.