Men Without Work: America's Invisible Crisis (New Threats to Freedom Series)
by Nicholas Eberstadt
View on GoodreadsAEI demographer Eberstadt's data-driven case that the collapse in prime-age male labor force participation — masked by the official unemployment rate — is one of the most under-discussed problems in American life.
Core ideas
- Headline unemployment hides the real story because it counts only people looking for work; the share of prime-age men neither working nor looking has grown for decades.
- The non-working male population isn't disproportionately doing caregiving or education; it's largely in front of screens, drawing on disability or family support.
- The causes are contested (deindustrialization, mass incarceration's aftermath, disability rolls, pain meds, gaming, marriage decline) and Eberstadt is careful not to claim a single answer.
Published2016
Pages216
ISBN9781599474694
ReadFeb 2023
