Posted on 01/27/2015 6:48:16 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
At every age, the chances of not working have changed in the last 15 years. Teenagers are far more likely not to work. Older people are retiring later and working more. In the ages in between the periods of life when most people work the changes have been smaller, but they are still substantial.
In the late 1960s, almost all men between the ages of 25 and 54 went to work. Only about 5 out of every 100 did not have a job in any given week. By 2000, this figure had more than doubled, to 11 out of every 100 men. This year, its 16. (People in the military, prison and institutions are excluded from these figures.)
Of course, the economy was stronger in 2000 than it is today, with a lower official unemployment rate the share of people not working and actively looking for work than today. But for prime-age men, the rise in official unemployment explains only about one-third of the increase in not working.
The remaining two-thirds is made up of those who are not working and not looking for work. Every month, the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics ask these men who are not in the labor force to describe their situation. Are they disabled, ill, in school, taking care of house or family, in retirement, or something else? Here are the trends within some of the larger of those categories:
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Singapore is North Korea but with the right to emigrate.
Don’t believe me? Drop a cigarette butt there & find out.
Because when women got into the workforce wholesale, something happened. All those stay at homes? Turned out they actually DID things before they had jobs. They did the shopping, balanced the checkbook, paid the bills, did the laundry, cleaned the house, cooked, etc.
Today all that work sits idle when she is at work. So now two people walk in the door about 6pm if they are lucky. NOTHING whatsoever is done. Someone might have to shop on the way home, or pick up carry out food. They might start cooking. Laundry needs to get done. Housecleaning, etc.
SO the family is stuck doing that stuff till 9 that used to be done during the day.
They guy gets no loving cause now she’s had a 14 hour day on her feet and is tired.
The guy in the stay at home mom days, got home, had dinner soon after arriving home. Family then when on drives, walks, watched TV, sat outside, visited friends and neighbors.
The mass move of two career families has imposed an additional burden on men, (half of her old stay at home daytime work) and it has stolen the family evening away.
The additional income isn’t worth it.
“Not even wait tables or bag groceries, as I did.”
In my area (flooded with illegals) many of these jobs aren’t even offered to Americans. These aren’t jobs Americans aren’t willing to do; these are jobs Americans aren’t offered.
Women were lured into the workforce with the material things that discretionary income could buy; as incomes rose prices did as well, and now that second income isn’t buying a shore house - it is buying groceries and other essentials.
Families could live on one income, but it would be in a dangerous area; now the second income is to get you further from unassimilated multi-generational welfare populations.
I get so happy when I’m taking a vacation week from work. I can actually get some in-depth housework done. I find that I don’t have the energy to keep up with both at the same time adequately. Weekends are usually taken up with either babysitting, visiting mom and dad, kids coming over, or getting shopping and errands done. I’ve worked some kind of job since I was 15 and now I just want to take a break, focus on the home, grandchild etc. and it sucks that the whole 26 years of my marriage I’ve had to hold down a job. It’s only getting to me now really because I don’t have the energy to do what “I” want to do and life is passing by quickly.
Waaahhh lol.
It’s not worth it, but it is a necessity now :(
Right. In some cases the labor participation rate is showing up as very low simply because there aren’t any people actually living there. I noticed the same thing about some parts of major metro areas where you have a huge airport or industrial area, but no residences.
Lied about my age and worked part time in a Shakey’s Pizza at 15. Finally retired at 62 after 47 years of active employment - not all the jobs were “can’t wait to get back to work” affairs but they were jobs. The Left and the racism/sexism/obesity-ism/ageism ditwads have convinced folks that it is more demeaning to work for a living than to leech off others.
Not a civil servant.
I know. Worked fast food and retail from 15 to 17 (graduated early from High School), then joined the Army to see the world and pay for college, due to limited advancement during The Carter Years. *SPIT*
I remember my folks paying 18% on the mortgage and 25% on credit cards! Gas lines. Things really sucked for a youngster, then. It’s exponentially WORSE these days...but in vastly different ways.
Grandpa was responsible for a wife, child and declining father-in-law during The Great Depression. That man worked 3 and 4 jobs at a time - delivering papers, digging ditches, cleaning up after horses, chopping wood, delivering milk, butchering - you name it. It was always a point of PRIDE to him to NEVER have been unemployed when so many were left wanting...because things were ‘beneath them’ to do, LOL!
Oh, and he managed to buy HOUSEFULS of furniture for pennies on the dollar and resell it. That’s where I get my love of antiques - because I have a few wonderful pieces thanks to him! :)
I like to think I got my work ethic from him, though unlike you, I’ve ONLY been steadily employed for 40 years now. Then I’m going to retire and farm for a living...until I run out of money, LOL! :)
I don’t believe that for a minute. Decent jobs are getting like the bald eagle and the alligator in the 70s. Except in this case, I don’t see them coming back.
She does mention that in the article. Many factors at work here...keeping men from work!
not sure about that, but I will say that Corps/HR today are a joke when it comes to hiring.
I was looking for some part time work to augment my full time job. I have a solid resume.
I was applying for a low paying, low skill, mindless job. I spent 45 minutes filling out nonsense on their website. You would have thought I was applying for an upper management position. I always hear “companies can’t find decent help” and I wonder if it’s because HR is so clueless and full of themselves that they are scuttling decent potential employees with their convoluted methods.
correct. And this labor dilution is done for a reason. To fundamentally change this Country.
“why cant the men who are home - and not working - pick up the slack with washing dishes and cleaning the house?”
They can, but it’s difficult for a man to find a partner to support them financially in exchange for doing that kind of work.
There are lots of good jobs. The reason men don’t work is because someone is paying them to not work.
My brother hasn’t had a job since 1996. He lived off our mom and his website. Now he can barely make rent but he still avoids getting a job.
I know a lot of people who consider a job beneath them because they can sponge off someone else.
Lol...The universal excuse....I mean, the universal *answer* will be: “We mow the lawn and take care of repairs”. At least, that’s what my friends and neighbors say when it comes up. Wife, working or not, takes care of the kids and the inside of the house, and husbands, working or not, take care of the lawn and repairs.
Funny, lawns don’t need any care for half the year where I live, and all the houses are new, so, not many repairs either. Yet laundry isn’t seasonal - it’s year ‘round. So is vacuuming, child care, making beds, loading the dishwasher, cooking meals and cleaning toilets...
“I wonder if its because HR is so clueless and full of themselves that they are scuttling decent potential employees with their convoluted methods.”
Well, they are, but kind of intentionally. Especially since Obama took office, you will get hundreds of resumes for any job posting. It doesn’t matter how clearly you list the qualifications, desperate people who have no chance of getting the job will still apply. It’s a chore to sift through all of those carefully, so it is easier to raise the bar and demand more qualifications just so that you can eliminate whole swathes of applications at a glance.
The previous poster I responded to implied that feminism (and laziness?) lured women out into the workforce so they could avoid housework. And that this was the reason men weren’t working. Or something like that. It confused me.
Anyway, if these non-working men are already home, and their spouse is working (to avoid that pile of laundry and unloading the dishwasher, of course) the men at home can pick up the messes and clean.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.