Men are dropping out of the labor force because upset about their social status

I think it's also related to this https://time.com/6287012/why-finding-job-is-difficult/

There are so many hurdles, especially for 'average' people without exceptional, sought skills or talents or infinite patience, that they just say 'fuck it' and either move in with parents or other family, move in with friends, go on disability, or drop out of society in other ways.

Companies keep saying there is a labor shortage, or that they need work, or that people do not want to work, yet at the same time make it so hard to actually get hired. so much pre-employment screening.

(2022)

Abstract of the actual paper: (https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/research-department-w...)

Data indicate that more frequent labor force exit among men without a four-year college degree has been driving the decline in the US prime-age (25 to 54) men’s labor force participation rate over the last 40 years. At the same time, non-college men’s earnings measured as a share of the average earnings of all prime-age workers have fallen by more than 30 percent since 1980. In light of these parallel trends, this paper investigates whether prime-age noncollege men are more inclined to leave the labor force when their expected earnings fall relative to the earnings of other workers in their labor market. The empirical model takes into account that a job not only provides economic security but also affirms a worker’s social status, which is tied to their position relative to their age-range peers. The sample consists of state-occupation-level panel data on labor force exit rates, occupation earnings, and job loss risk matched with information on the state-level earnings distribution and a set of state socioeconomic controls over the period 1980 through 2019.

> Non-college-educated men have seen their pay shrink by more than 30% since 1980 compared to the average earnings of all other prime-age workers. Their weekly earnings have declined 17%, while those of college-educated men rose by 20%, adjusting for inflation. That earnings loss has caused a decline in their social status, prompting them to walk away from work entirely, Pinghui Wu, the author of the study, wrote.

I wonder how much of this we could explain simply by the fact that the percentage of men who have graduated college has doubled since 1980. Compared to 1980, the non-college-educated group represents a smaller proportion of men. If you somehow took that same, smaller proportion of 1980s men by doing something like removing 1980s jobs that would now require a degree, then perhaps the salary comparison to the average salary would look similar to today.

If you've ever played Mario Kart, the first thing you might notice is how much fun it is - it's pretty much the only game that gets me excited to play with friends in a long time. Another aspect that you'll figure out is that it has mechanisms to assist you when you fall behind (you tend to get much better item drops) and aspects to prevent anyone from getting too far ahead (the dreaded "Blue Shell" that rockets to the player in the lead and nearly unavoidably targets them to slow them enough to usually lose a few slots). It certainly makes for an engaging game when it has mechanisms to keep the race competitive.

I realize the study was unable to or just did not perform “follow-ups” with the individuals they are positing “no longer work”. But, what exactly are these malcontents doing instead, then?

Living with parents? (Why would a parent enable this juvenile behavior)?

Relying on their spouse's income to survive (and, if so, is there any real harm/issue with this)?

Going “off the books” and just being part of the underground economy (in which case, this 'not working' posit is partly a falsehood).

Even woefully entitled dudes have to eat, no?

Too many idle people is never a Good Thing(tm). It breeds insurrections, conspiracy theories, and the kind that go postal against random people.

Being out of work isn’t a way to improve your social status

skill issue