Just 71% of young males in 2021 held a full-time job — that's a big drop from 85% in 1980. Why millions of men are dropping out of the workforce at an alarming rate

Millions of men are abandoning the workforce at an alarming rate, according to analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Research Center.

The data reveals that 71% of young men (aged 25 years old at the time of the study) held full-time jobs, down from 85% in 1980.

A survey conducted by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank found that 25% of young Americans were out of work, many of whom had been laid off during the pandemic and have since struggled to find the right job.

Real earnings for men without college degrees has dropped 30% since the 1980s. The relative decline in earnings also had an impact on the social status of these jobs, which impacts men in the marriage market. Younger men are more likely to see their social status and marriage prospects diminish if their peers are outearning them.

By some measures, prime-aged men have worse mental and physical health now than 30 years ago.

The problem he sees with workers is that they show up, work 1 pay period, get their check, and then never come back. They appear to only work long enough to get money to get by for some period of time

I am office manager for a construction company and we get that a lot too. Almost 80% of new hires work less than a week before quitting. I do notice that a lot of these young guys are soft or over weight. They are not prepared for work.
Our culture in general is sliding into uselessness.

Men work in order to make themselves attractive to women.

What we are seeing is a large percentage of women having disdain for “average” men, as they compete for the most desirable men (6 foot tall, 6 figure income, 6-pack abs).

A guy who has given up on attracting a girlfriend can survive on a part time job, live with his parents or have a small apartment, and spend his time gaming or hanging with the guys. Living is cheap if you don’t have to impress anyone.

There's a lot more to this issue than simply employment. A lot of young men are simply checking out of society.

Traditionally, a large incentive to achieve was securing a good wife and creating a family. Men needed to have means and status. Now, marriage is a dying institution. Young men have seen fathers, brothers, friends, co-workers, etc destroyed by divorce. With current laws, attitudes, and rates of failure, marriage is a bad deal.

Men who give up on trying to attract a mate quickly find out that they can get by for virtually nothing. They don't need the degrees, nice jobs, nice houses, etc. A part time job or two will suffice. They can copy their divorced counterparts and just skip to the step where they live in a studio apartment with a TV and video games. They can drink beer with their buddies and be as productive or non-productive as they wish.

If you were young man today, would you join the military? It's totally woke, totally vaxxed, and hates men...especially white men. I wouldn't join today's military, and I spent an entire career as a military man.

How about college? It's woke as can be, and many degrees are rapidly declining in value. Why would someone want to run up college debt for something with a poor ROI?

Learning a trade is great. However, to a young man who has checked out of society, what's the point? To get a nice house and pay taxes? To land that wonderful soulmate? You know, the one who in many cases gets bored after a few years, takes your house and half of your income, plus takes your kids?

The issue of men not working full time jobs is only a problem and only gets reported when it is a problem for other people. It's not an issue when only men are having a problem. It's a problem because of declining tax revenue, and a lack of marriageable men.

Sure, some of the non-working guys are Antifa types, or living in Mom's basement, or whatever. However, a lot are fairly regular guys who have decided that it's not worth it to work hard and pay taxes that get handed to illegals flooding the country. Consciously or not, they've gone Galt. What's wrong with that? Put yourself in their shoes. If I were 25, I'd probably do the same.

Kids today don’t know how to struggle.

The first job I had when I got out of high school paid about $5/hr (about $10k/yr). I rabidly realized that that wasn’t going to cut it, so I joined the Navy and learned electronics, which, after the Navy landed me a job paying $9/hr (good money for 1987) after two years I was making $14/hr and working on commercial aircraft. I loved the job but I knew it wouldn’t last so I went to college and got a degree in electrical engineering. Eventually I was making $100k/year.

My sister back in Minnesota knows several people in their early 20’s. They cannot hold a job for long. How they support each other? She knew 7 non related people that lived in one of their mom’s home till they burned it down a few months back due to charging up their phones all at once while they were asleep in a house built in the 1940’s. No injuries but the house is totaled....

One couple she knows are in the early 20’s, have one small kid, no job as he keeps losing them. They live at his parents home. My sister tried to explain that he had to get a job and work from there. There is no perfect / permanent job unless he starts his own business.

I started work at 15 in the summers. Full time at 18. I had 5 jobs before I retired. Each paid more then the last. I invested my money in stock and was able to retire. I did not have a 401k and wish I had as it would mean even more money.

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