Where Have The Men Gone?

Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

The Department of Labor keeps careful track of employment and the demographics thereof. Their latest report on men in the labor force is both mysterious and deeply alarming. It turns out that the labor force is missing about 7 million men who would otherwise be working. Close to a third of working-age men have vanished from the labor force.

The labor force participation rate among “prime age men,” age 25 to 54, in the 1950s approached 100 percent. Now it is 89 percent, meaning roughly 11 percent are not in the labor force (neither working nor looking for work).

Among all men over 16 years of age, the rate is a devastatingly low 66 percent, so about one-third are gone. Among U.S.-born men, nearly 22 percent are gone.

This is really quite shocking.

The trend in decline dates far back, accelerated in the 1960s, stabilized in the 1980s, declined again after the turn of the century, and took a deep dive after the pandemic lockdowns and never recovered. It is falling again now, nearly to the lows we saw when the economy was actually locked down.

The explanations for this are all over the map. Disability ranks at the top.

But we aren’t really talking about wooden legs and paraplegics here. This traces to mental disorders, substance abuse, obesity and chronic disease, low motivation, pharmaceutical injury, and general lethargy and demoralization.

How do they pay the bills? The lucky ones have trust fund flows. The conventional ones live with Mom and Dad and take disability benefits. The really unlucky ones are simply homeless.

The number of men who live with parents has tripled since the 1950s when the expectation was that you would be kicked out of the nest at 17 and only return for holidays and special occasions. Otherwise, any self-respecting dude would make a living for himself, find a bride, and set up his own family. The idea of basement dwelling was simply unheard of.

There is overlap here with men falling out of the workforce. Men (especially non-college) living with parents are 20 percent less likely to be in the labor force than those living independently.

We all have stories. In fact, you are thinking of some men you know now and how it happened that they just lost interest in the normal flow of life. Instead, they spend their time with gaming, scrolling, porn, OnlyFans, and some other pointless or destructive pursuit. They rely on substances and drugs to dampen the pain. They have given up.

There is plenty of blame to go around. The full feminization of the workplace is only a few decades old now, with every firm being lorded over by Human Resources, which is dominated by women by 70–80 percent. They serve as a breeder of conflict such that any offense is immediately reported if it usually involves men as the target.

College students have been taught for years that the word toxic and masculinity are inseparable, while the phrase “toxic femininity” does not exist. Indeed, it is commonplace for any competent man in the workforce to be falsely accused of absurdities. No company is willing to risk the litigation costs, and so it throws the guy out even with zero evidence of wrongdoing.

Years ago I heard one guy in an investment bank say that every man in his office regards women as essentially inanimate, like statues with whom never to engage at any level. He added that no responsible man would ever get on an elevator if there is a woman alone in there. Doing so risks your career because you can be accused of anything to your doom.

Is the corporate workplace today hostile to men? To say absolutely is a huge understatement. It should not be shocking to discover that millions of men have simply said they want no part of it.

Oddly, men today can get by on not much money at all. If they are living with family, room and board are free. If you prefer looking like a slob, clothing expenses are nearly zero too. In today’s world, it is possible for a working-age man to manage with only a trickle of government benefits. Without a serious inner drive to achieve something, one year can fold into the next.

As a general principle, a man without a job is only going to get ever sicker. The whole of society suffers their absence.

There are always good excuses. The labor markets are extremely tight right now, especially for men with soft-discipline college degrees who have no marketable skills despite being six figures in debt. Here is a real tragedy. They were told to stay in school and just get that piece of paper. Now the job market is not particularly interesting.

Then you have the cost of housing, which is extremely high. Buying a house is out of the question. Even with simple renting, lease applications are extremely strict now. You have to show stable income flows and have excellent credit. No landlord these days is willing to risk nonpayment given what happened in 2020 when the government imposed an eviction moratorium.

You also have a major problem with what is called the reservation wage. This is the level that one expects to get paid even when market conditions are not cooperating. Sure, some guys can take their lumps and start delivering or driving rideshare. But for many men, taking such a job is an assault on their personal dignity. They won’t do it.

In the end, we really are talking about a volitional choice to drop out.

Talking with others about this, we all know cases in point. They are embarrassed, isolated, and in a spiral of demoralization that is hard to fix.

I was listening to a podcast the other day by an influential guy who said something that really spooked me. I somehow can’t shake his words. He said that realistically there is nothing to do. Nothing. He continued to explain that you can hang out at home and play on the computer or go to a restaurant. After you eat, you can go home again and play on the computer. He said some people recommend travel but he said this is pointless because it is the same whether in Milan or Milwaukee: you sit in your room or go eat. Nothing else.

These are astonishing words to me. For how many others is he speaking? Have we really come to this place as a culture? What would you suggest to this young man? You can of course yell and say: get a life! The trouble is that we have an entire generation or two of men who don’t even understand what that is.

Ideally, if we could go back in time, men would get a serious job like construction at the age of 15 or so. My brother did this and it was astonishing to watch. He would come home at 5 p.m. and fall into bed moaning in pain, rouse himself for dinner, and then collapse again. It was this way for a week until his body and mind adjusted. Wow, did he learn a thing or two.

My case was less rigorous: roof repair, piano moving, organ tuning, well digging, courier services, and finally department store maintenance. I never did the road crew but I did learn the joy of work early.

That doesn’t help the late 20-something who sees no real point to waking up. What to do?

For the past year, I’ve been working on a book that explores an interesting thesis; namely that there is a crying need these days for men to lead a rehomesteading movement, starting right now in one’s apartment or wherever you live.

The book traces the history of domesticity and how tasks have been allocated by gender and how technology and demographics have scrambled these roles in ways to which society has yet to adjust.

Just to cite one obvious point, in the 1950s, 4 out of 5 households with children under 18 had one stream of income provided by the husband/father.

Men knew their roles and responsibilities, long inherited from history when men were in the fields and factories and wives and mothers took care of vast domestic responsibilities.

Today that figure is only two in five. Two-thirds of households with children have two income streams with both parents pursuing some professional life outside the home. This happened due to declining real household income. Mainly it was inflation and not feminist ideology that drafted adult women into remunerative labor outside the home.

The result created a loss of purpose for men, many of whom feel lost and useless. My book provides a practical answer; namely taking on the multitude of tasks in the home that have otherwise been abandoned. The book breaks it all down room by room including detailed explanations of home decor, cleaning, sewing, cooking, and entertaining. The book’s title: “A Man’s Castle.”

Going back to the podcast guy who complains there is nothing to do, my answer would be to look around where you live. The window blinds have a coat of dust and grime on them. Your clothes have holes that could be sewn. The laundry is backed up and stains are everywhere. Make a roast. Look up how. You could have people over and then take responsibility for assuring that everyone has a good time.

Believing that these are not the jobs of men is part of the problem. My solution might sound mundane but at least it begins to address the real issue: the lack of purpose and meaning. Rehomesteading isn’t the whole answer but it is a beginning.

Now that a third of working-age men have slipped into a life of lethargy and nihilism, it’s time to sound the alarm. We have to start fixing this.