How did the poverty of the 1950's differ from the poverty of the great depression?

I lived through the 1950s and was born at the very end of the 1930s. Nothing I can recall of my teen years compared to the stories my mother told me about her life during the 30s. 

We saw very little evidence of poverty in North America in the 1950s. The influence of the United States was spreading as there was no devastation as there was in Europe and Asia (Japan mostly). 

The 30s were quite different. Poverty was everywhere and the breakdown of the economic system affected everyone. I saw no soup kitchens. I saw no lineups where food was given out and a place to sleep was something hard to afford. I did not learn of those things through experience, but by reading people like John Steinbeck. 

There was a pessimism about the 30s. There was life and vitality in the 50s. There was a dreary existence in the 30s. There was a can do attitude in the 50s, quite different than the 30s.

Education meant something in the 50s. Jobs were plentiful. It was not expensive to go to school. 4 years of education cost somewhere around 6000 dollars which was not hard to come by. 

Things were different in Europe but that same infectious can do attitude prevailed and eventually Europe and Japan did catch up. They did share in the wealth created by turning their attention to domestic economies.