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Monday, November 14, 2016

"The Mystery Of America's Missing Male Workers"


"More than 7 million men between the ages of 25 and 54 — prime working age — have dropped out of the labor force. That means they're not only unemployed but have also given up looking for a job. Shortly after World War II, virtually every man of prime working age was either working or looking for work. But the labor force participation rate for men has been declining steadily since the mid-1960s, from almost 97 percent to about 88 percent today. There is a smaller percentage of men working now than in 1940, near the end of the Great Depression....
This can be called a "quiet catastrophe" ... as men have been dropping out of the workforce at roughly the same rate for the past half century, through boom times and recessions alike.... Only one in seven men outside the workforce says a lack of available jobs is the reason he's not working."

"About 57% of men who are outside of the workforce received some form of disability benefits in 2013. Overall, the number of Americans receiving disability has doubled to 8.8 million people since 1996, costing the federal government $260 billion per year. The U.S. now spends more on disability insurance than on food stamps and welfare combined. For others, especially younger men, it's often relatives who pick up the slack. Some 70% of lower-skilled men in their 20s who didn't have a job lived with a parent or close relative in 2014."

How are these men doing?
"Not well. It isn't clear whether pain and sickness keep people out of the workforce, or if being out of work makes people sick, but nearly half of them report taking a painkiller every day. About two-thirds of the men taking pain medication were using prescription drugs — contributing to the nationwide opioid addiction epidemic...."

"If current trends hold, a quarter of prime-age men will be out of the workforce by 2050, making the economy less productive. It will also mean generations of men will be sicker and poorer than their peers in the workforce."

America's Missing Male Workers
http://theweek.com/articles/659245/mystery-americas-missing-male-workers

My Comment: Most of the "jobs that these men are unwilling to do" are being done by immigrants. And because the increasing numbers of newcomers keep wages depressed, this problem will indeed progress unless our new populist president actually seals "all" of the borders. Will this occur? Not likely. Why? Because the current Establishment is currently making too much money off of maintaining the status quo. The new President will focus on targeting those things that will make his crony Establishment players richer. That is why he will weaken the EPA. [And who suffers when that happens? Why, you do.]
Trump, like other crooks before him wanted merely to "kick those bums out"- and put this bum in. It's like having Pancho Villa become president. A wolf in sheep's clothing.
http://www.history.com/topics/pancho-villa