I will focus on the United States and three significant effects on Americans' family life. The first was the huge mobilization of troops needed to fight a war on two fronts in Europe and Asia. Most able-bodied men under age 38 were either drafted or chose to enlist in the armed forces. This left many young families with absentee fathers. Second, the loss of male workers combined with the need for factories to run nonstop to support the war effort threw masses of women into the workforce. Women earned their own money and had a taste of freedom, but children were often left in daycare or, if older, to fend for themselves. Finally, rationing, which conserved resources for the war effort, left most families with little to buy and, because of gas rationing, few opportunities to travel. Instead, families were encouraged to grow Victory Gardens so more food would be available and to collect tin cans and other resources that could be recycled for the war effort. Families, when they did have leisure time together, were more likely to focus on life's simpler pleasures.