Ford instituted a drive to hire sixteen to twenty year olds, ostensibly to “keep them out of mischief.”21 The Ford Corporation promoted this as a philanthropic move to reduce crime. Yet the net effect was to replace older workers no longer capable of keeping up with the frenetic assembly-line pace with strong, young bodies. Those muscled out of their jobs had no recourse but to seek help from the city. As Niebuhr observed, “unemployed Ford workers are the heaviest charge upon Detroit charities of any class of citizens.”
