In recent weeks, the steady decline in labor force participation among working-age men has attracted a lot of attention. A recent report from the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) shows that the labor force participation rate among men age 25–54 has fallen by 8.3 percentage points since 1965.
This is a serious problem because not only are adults who work full-time rarely in poverty, but also work is fundamental to a flourishing life.
While the CEA believes that the decline is largely caused by decreased demand for low-skilled workers, the problem may be on the supply side. Finding ways to keep men healthy enough to work, reforming safety net programs to encourage and support employment, and changing our culture to place more value on work are all recommendations from one poverty scholar.
Here are some of the CEA’s findings.
— The share of nonparticipating prime-age men reporting they want a job has fallen over time, from a peak of 28 percent in 1985 to 16 percent in 2015.
— In 1964, 98 percent of prime-age men with a college degree or more participated in the workforce, compared to 97 percent of men with a high school degree or less. In 2015, the rate for college-educated men had fallen slightly to 94 percent while the rate for men with a high school degree or less had plummeted to 83 percent.
— In recent decades, less-educated Americans have suffered a reduction in their wages relative to other groups. From 1975 until 2014, relative wages for those with a high school degree fell from over 80 percent of the amount earned by workers with at least a college degree to less than 60 percent.
— In 2014, 11 percent of all prime-age men lived in poverty compared to 15 percent of the population as a whole, although the rate for prime-age men has nearly doubled since the 1970s. In contrast, nearly 36 percent of prime-age men not in the labor force lived below the poverty line in 2014, up from 28 percent in 1968.
— By one estimate, between 6 and 7 percent of the prime-age male population in 2008 was incarcerated at some point in their lives. These men are substantially more likely to experience joblessness after they are released from prison and in many states are legally barred from a significant number of jobs.
— Foreign-born prime-age men continue to participate at higher rates than the native-born. Their participation rate has actually risen slightly over the last two decades by 1.4 percentage point since 1994, while the native-born prime-age male participation fell by 4.4 percentage points, suggesting that increasing immigration is not a viable explanation for the decline.
Read the rest of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers findings on labor force participation among prime working-age men.
