Quote:
Originally Posted by fintstone
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/12/upshot/unemployment-the-vanishing-male-worker-how-america-fell-behind.html?abt=0002&abg=0
I see this as one of our nation's biggest problems. Lots of folks who do not work. Many by choice (pay or work is not up to their standards). I don't see this as a PARF topic, because it is an apolitical problem...but do believe actions that gov't (both parties) have taken has caused much of this. From the article "The Vanishing Male Worker":
"...Working, in America, is in decline. The share of prime-age men — those 25 to 54 years old — who are not working has more than tripled since the late 1960s, to 16 percent. More recently, since the turn of the century, the share of women without paying jobs has been rising, too. The United States, which had one of the highest employment rates among developed nations as recently as 2000, has fallen toward the bottom of the list..."
"...Many men, in particular, have decided that low-wage work will not improve their lives, in part because deep changes in American society have made it easier for them to live without working. These changes include the availability of federal disability benefits; the decline of marriage, which means fewer men provide for children; and the rise of the Internet, which has reduced the isolation of unemployment..." (read the rest at the link)
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I read this article a few days ago and it distrubed me. There are factors are worth noting. We are more productive than ever - we do more with less. Hugh makes a good point. I see this on the manufacturing side. This is the beginning of permanent under employment: too large of supply for the demand. Those that are in demand need skills more than a high school education. Those skill sets aren't there for the demand. I also see those who graduate college do not have marketable skills or find demand with their areas of major.
In the 70's and 80's much of the steel making industry closed in Chicago. I worked in the mills for 7 years. The labor force made great money: big $/hr for what they did. When the mills closed, they put many out of work. There was a period when these unemployed workers refused to work for anything less than they made at the mills. There was a larger percentage that thought the mills would come back. None of this ever happened. Those folks were lost. They never recovered.
I don't see much difference now except, there might be more goverment assistance. There is a percentage of those who will quit looking, find work in the underground economy of live off goverment. This is a lost generation of workers. I hope those who are young see what is going on and adjust either their education or experience skill sets so they won't fall into the same trap.