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Binyamin Appelbaum writes at the NYT that 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 as many men 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. Technology has made unemployment less lonely says Tyler Cowen, an economist at George Mason University, who argues that the Internet allows men to entertain themselves and find friends and sexual partners at a much lower cost than did previous generations. Perhaps most important, it has become harder for men to find higher-paying jobs as foreign competition and technological advances have eliminated many of the jobs open to high school graduates. The trend was pushed to new heights by the last recession, with 20 percent of prime-age men not working in 2009 before partly receding. But the recovery is unlikely to be complete. "Like turtles flipped onto their backs, many people who stop working struggle to get back on their feet," writes Appelbaum. "Some people take years to return to the work force, and others never do "
A study published in October by scholars at the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for Family Studies estimated that 37 percent of the decline in male employment since 1979 can be explained by this retreat from marriage and fatherhood (PDF). “When the legal, entry-level economy isn’t providing a wage that allows someone a convincing and realistic option to become an adult — to go out and get married and form a household — it demoralizes them and shunts them into illegal economies,” says Philippe Bourgois, an anthropologist who has studied the lives of young men in urban areas. “It’s not a choice that has made them happy. They would much rather be adults in a respectful job that pays them and promises them benefits.”
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 15 2014, @06:39PM
Pretty good assessment
"those who work hard enough will be rewarded"
I want to add to that. You *MUST* work hard or you get nothing. However, if you work hard does not mean you will get anything.
There is an element of 'luck'. Or the old saying 'Lady luck favors the prepared'.
Luck is usually the ability to do three things.
1) see that you have been presented an opportunity (the lucky bit)
2) The ability to actually seize upon that opportunity (learning what to do)
3) The will to actually carry thru (the work hard bit).
If you fail on any of those 3 steps you will get nothing. In some cases you end up worse off.
frustrated strata must move beyond their received assumptions
It all folds in upon itself. Words are cheap, actions speak louder than words. So now that you 'know' how to do something what are you going to do with it? If your answer is to go on the internet and bitch you will not get steps 1-3. As you never even started as no one wants to give opportunities to someone who whines about it. Words are cheap.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Monday December 15 2014, @10:57PM
4. You need to avoid getting screwed out of the fruits of your labor.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 16 2014, @01:59AM
4a. Figure out how to take what you have learned and start your own business.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Tuesday December 16 2014, @02:32AM
Tried that. Getting paid as a small business can be very difficult.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 16 2014, @03:09PM
I would consider your 4a to be part of step 1. Recognize an opportunity.
Building your own business is seeing that working for the man makes less than doing it yourself. You need steps 2 and 3 to pull it off.
Step 4 is a good idea but I am not convinced it fits my steps. Perhaps step one needs to be revised. The ability to see bad and good opportunities and act accordingly. As you would asses someone trying to take your money as a bad opportunity and you would not act on it.
Also given all the steps there is 0 guarantee. Just the possibility of an opportunity. Stack the odds in your favor.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 16 2014, @01:26AM
You *MUST* work hard or you get nothing.
False. Some are practically born into wealth.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 16 2014, @02:39PM
Yeah waiting for a rich uncle to die so I can get wealth or maybe I can win the lottery. Thats going to work sooooo well. Let me know how that works out for you. /sarc
You are missing my point. The point is for the 99% working hard is the only way up. If you do that you have the possibility of getting wealthy. If you do nothing and worry about what others have you will get nothing as well. However, 'working hard' does not necessarily get you anything. It takes a stroke of 'luck' to get ahead.
There are 0 guarantees. You can however stack the odds in your favor. But even that the house usually wins.