Declining Prime-Age Male Labor Force Participation: Why Demand- and Health-Based Explanations are Inadequate
27 Pages Posted: 3 Oct 2017
Date Written: September 26, 2017
Abstract
Observers of all ideological persuasions are concerned about the long-term decline in male labor force participation. Explanations for this drop fall into one of three categories. Some analysts, including those in the Obama administration’s Council of Economic Advisers, argue that declining demand for less-skilled labor among employers — resulting in lower pay for the same work — has caused more men to drop out of the labor force. Others claim that fewer men are able to work owing to deteriorating health conditions. This paper highlights the flaws in these two accounts and, in so doing, makes the case for a third explanation: that declining interest in work has reduced labor supply.
Keywords: labor force participation, employment, disability, unemployment, Council of Economic Advisers, deaths of despair, labor force dropout
JEL Classification: J1, J2, J3, J6, I1, I3
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation