Ramona and Her Mother

The 1970s recession in America was a complex event caused by a combination of factors, including an oil crisis in the Middle East, high inflation, monetary policy decisions, and labor market issues. These factors combined created a challenging economic environment that led to an economic downturn and financial uncertainty in America’s working class. By 1971, unemployment rates reached a 10-year peak at 6%. While the Ramona novels do not directly address the 1970s financial crisis, Beverly Cleary’s portrayal of the Quimby family’s circumstances offers insight into the effects of economic turmoil on families, emphasizing themes of resilience, adaptation, and the value of family support.

The four books in the Ramona series that were published during the 1970s and early 1980s—Ramona the Brave (1975), Ramona and Her Father (1977), Ramona and Her Mother (1979), and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (1981)—are shaped by the Quimby family’s experiences with financial instability. In Ramona and Her Father, Mr. Quimby loses his job, forcing Mrs. Quimby to work outside the home to support the family. The family faces the peril of financial pressure at the worst time of the year: the holiday season. Yet Ramona pledges to trade all her gifts if her family can only have peace and joy for Christmas.

Ramona and Her Mother further examines the effect of economic hardship on families, something Cleary was familiar with from her childhood. Mr. Quimby encourages the family to “scrimp and pinch” to make ends meet (98); every family member must make sacrifices. Ramona is forced to wear her sister’s hand-me-down clothes, and she must spend her afternoons at her friend Howie Kemp’s home so her mother can work. Beezus laments the family’s lack of disposable income when she wishes for a professional haircut. When the family’s dinner plans fall through one night because of an unplugged Crock-Pot, the bare fridge and pantry reveal the thin margins on which the Quimbys live. This storyline reflects the economic uncertainty many families experienced during the recession and the changing roles and dynamics within families. The family’s efforts to adapt to their new financial situation, such as cutting back on expenses and finding ways to support each other, appear realistic, even several decades after the book was published. Aside from the frustration of not having new clothes or eating at home instead of having dinner out, Ramona senses tension within her home and worries that her parents’ argument means they are getting a divorce. Cleary uses a child’s perspective to examine how economic hardship causes anxiety and stress in children. Through the Quimby family’s example, Cleary highlights how open communication, unity, and humor can help families cope with financial instability (Nguyen, J. “Author Beverly Cleary Highlighted the Struggles of the Working Class in her Books.” Marketplace, 2 Apr. 2021).