Since the early 2000s, the participation of young men (ages 16-24)in the American workforce has dropped precipitously compared with other age and gender groups. Why is this happening, and why does it matter? There’s not a one-size-fits-all answer for every nonparticipant, but two main factors stand out: education and disability. Policies enabling even a small increase in male participation would mean millions more people entering the labor market and helping our economy flourish.
Before going further, it’s worth noting that men have always participated in the American workforce at much higher rates than women, regardless of age. Participation for men of “prime working age” (25-54) has declined slightly since the turn of the millennium (to just under 90%), but that is still much higher than among women (around 78%). The gap is almost exclusively related to women being more likely to undertake caregiving responsibilities. This barrier to working can be addressed by more funding for child care and elder caregiving programs.
The above excerpt was originally published in MSNBC.
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