In the United States, there is a severe demographic crisis going on that few people are talking about. This crisis involves working-aged (25-54 years old) men. Seven million prime working-age men are outside the labor force! These men are neither employed or unemployed. Instead, this mass of non-working men have voluntarily exited the labor market.
You might be confused. Most media outlets either complain about the supposed gender pay gap or applaud the stock market’s record-breaking growth/US GDP growth. Most pundits on both the sides of the political aisle have failed to recognize this quiet crisis. Allow me to further explain this reality.
For context, the Labor Force consists of both the employed and the unemployed—which includes men with work and men looking for work. To be outside of the labor force means that one does not have a job and is not looking for work. The Labor force participation rate statistics substantiate this problem.
According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, the Labor Force participation rate for working-age men was 97% in 1960. By January 2020, that number cratered to 88%. A trend such as this one has never occurred in world history. For the last sixty years, generations of men have been dropping out of the labor force with little media fanfare.
Now, what do these men look like? What are the characteristics of these seven million men? To start, writer Nicholas Eberstadt from the American Enterprise Institute expresses some of their prime features: native-born, high-school dropouts, unmarried, and without children (aei.com). In his book Men without Work, Eberstadt also points out how these men often spend their time. These men aren’t volunteering at church and aren’t taking care of the kids while their wives are at work. Instead, their primary activities consist of watching television and playing video games (nypost.com). Moreover, Eberstadt asserts that a majority of these men are receiving a some sort of social support such as disability or food stamps payments (nypost.com).
The Causes
Of course, there is no single answer as to what has created this army of seven million men. Potential causes exist on both the demand-side and the supply-side of the labor market. On the demand side, one potential cause is the decline in demand for lower-skilled labor. Automation and the offshoring of American jobs in the last several decades are possible reasons as to why declining demand in low-skilled labor has occurred. On the supply-side side, decreased incentives for work seem to have played a role in declining male labor force participation. As stated early, a majority of these men receive some sort of public assistance from the government. Adding government support to other members of their household–who are earning an income–means that these men are not living in dire circumstances. Even though their lifestyles are not lavish, most of these men do not live in dire poverty.
Another two possible reasons are increased immigration and women’s participation in the labor force. Many Americans may highly dislike this reasoning. However, there is evidence to suggest that increasing the supply of labor either by immigration or women has decreased the wages of high school-educated men over the last several decades. Just stating that fact will likely brand me as a bigot. Nevertheless, what is clear is that millions of American men have left the workforce to never return.
The Effects
So what? What’s the big deal about this problem? Economically, widening income inequality, increased government spending, and overall slower economic growth are just some of the immediate consequences of seven million men out of the labor force. At a cultural level, these seven million men represent lost potential. These men could have become responsible husbands, fathers, employees, and community leaders. Personally, it pains me to think about how much more vibrant and dynamic this nation would be with these men.
Here’s my final point: a society without good, strong men is bound to fail. Failing men are bad for everyone—the elderly, women, children, and society as a whole. The United States of America still needs good, strong men. I hope and pray that this problem is confronted sooner rather than later.
Some links:
https://nypost.com/2016/09/13/crisis-of-un-work-why-7-million-men-have-left-the-us-labor-force/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-economys-hidden-problem-working-class-men-without-jobs/