Any parent who would abandon their child should be shot dead in the street like a dog.
Then you would have killed a lot of Americans in the era before the New Deal's social safety net.
During the Great Depression, families who could not support their children usually found other family members in better circumstances who could take them in, and many families were broken up that way. There was also a common intitution called the orphanage, run by counties or private charities, that took children in from families who could not support them.
It was quite common for older children to be asked to leave if feeding them made it impossible to feed other children. Then they would take to the road and the railroad, hobo-ing from town to town looking for work.
In 1933, William Wellman directed "Wild Boys of the Road", which is the definitive film about this phenomenon. The writers grafted on a happy ending for the boy. In the real world, he would have ended up in prison, molested by some older bum on the road, or beaten to death by a railroad bull. I recommend renting or downloading the film. It's a real eye-opener.
Agreed
Can’t agree with ya there bigdirty.
Ya hear how newborns are left at police or fire stations or hospitals by their parents.
That has to be painful. Can YOU imagine knowing you were not capeable of being a competant parent to said child?
Knowing that said child would be better off in whatever situation they arrive at instead of staying with YOU?
I thank GOD for the family that adopted my sisters son when she was not capeable. It took away from her ever day the rest of her life.