Declining Prime-Age Male Labor Force Participation: Why Demand- and Health-Based Explanations are Inadequate

27 Pages Posted: 3 Oct 2017

See all articles by Scott Winship

Scott Winship

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

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

Winship, Scott, Declining Prime-Age Male Labor Force Participation: Why Demand- and Health-Based Explanations are Inadequate (September 26, 2017). Mercatus Research Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3046868 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3046868

Scott Winship (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) ( email )

79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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