MALES DROPPING OUT OF WORK FORCE

A recent WSJ article addresses an interesting and serious topic of why are less skilled men dropping out of the work-force.  You are encouraged to look at the whole article.

Why aren’t men in the prime of their lives working more?

Working-age males have been sitting on the sidelines in greater numbers for decades, a trend that accelerated during the latest recession and has broad implications for individual well-being as well as the overall economy.

A new White House study highlights the sharpest decline among men with lower levels of educational attainment and concludes much of the cause is a loss of economic opportunity for those would-be workers.

“No single factor can fully explain this decline, but analysis suggests that a reduction in the demand for less skilled labor has been a key cause of declining participation rates as well as lower wages for less skilled workers,” the Council of Economic Advisers said in the report.*

The article has several very interesting graphs, but I haven't seen this one of workforce participation rate by educational achievement.  I shock is that even among the better educational attainment, the workforce participation rate among men is still declining, although slightly.

(Click on figure to enlarge)

* http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/06/20/as-low-skilled-jobs-disappear-men-drop-out-of-the-workforce/?mod=djemRTE_h