Postwar Economic and Long Economic Boom 5-8

5. Union membership would peak in the 1950s and then begin a long, unremitting decline. 6. The Employment Act of 1946 made it government policy to promote maximum employment, production, and purchasing power. The act created a three member Council of Economic Advisors to provide the president with the data and the recommendations to make that policy a reality. 7. The GI Bill was enacted partly out of fear that the employment markets would never absorb the 15 million returning veterans at war’s end. It sent 8 million veterans to school, and because of this it was extremely successful. 8. By the mid-1950s, 60% of Americans were middle class. By 1960, 60% owned their own homes (in 1920, only 40% owned homes.)