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The Rise of Men Who Don’t Work – And What They Do Instead

nytimes.com

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Re: The Rise of Men Who Don’t Work – And What They Do Instead

#11

Post by vidyesh »

There are lot of factors which are discussed but not considered when it came to concluding this topic.

The increase in population : Instead of comparing the ratio or the percentage of working vs non-working with the present population it compares x out of every 100.

The increase in jobs : 2000 vs 2014, the number of jobs available has also changed which is not taken in account. As mentioned in the article older people end up creating more jobs.

The increase in unemployment rate : Yes, this contradicts with the above mentioned increase in jobs point but this should also be a factor. This also is affected by people not-from US who work in US.

The Shift in Generation : 14 years brings/builds a very different minded person and this person might have a different approach to living.

The higher standard of living : This also is one of the reasons why older people are still working and won't leave their jobs as their value is appreciated, helps pay the debt and they could satisfy all their needs to live a life of luxury(?) and fulfil all their ambitions.

Re: The Rise of Men Who Don’t Work – And What They Do Instead

#12

Post by marcell »

MCRed wrote: post #2

Look ma, that's me! Free of a soul crushing corporate job, back to doing a "startup", I may not have the cash rolling in, but at least I'm in control of my destiny. Hey Ma, I'm moving in! I think there are a lot of people out there like me. I have some money coming from side projects, several opportunities to grow that, and several opportunities for new side projects. And quite a long personal runway before I have to…

It is great that you are able to do this, but not that your situation is not the one described in the article. The article discusses men who only qualify for low/no skill jobs paying $10-15/hr. That is markedly different from a tech startup cofounder who could get a software engineering job paying $100k+ with benefits.

Re: The Rise of Men Who Don’t Work – And What They Do Instead

#13

Post by 7Figures2Commas »

MCRed wrote: post #2

Look ma, that's me! Free of a soul crushing corporate job, back to doing a "startup", I may not have the cash rolling in, but at least I'm in control of my destiny. Hey Ma, I'm moving in! I think there are a lot of people out there like me. I have some money coming from side projects, several opportunities to grow that, and several opportunities for new side projects. And quite a long personal runway before I have to…

> I may not have the cash rolling in, but at least I'm in control of my destiny. Hey Ma, I'm moving in!

How are people who don't have a meaningful source of income and who are dependent on their parents for shelter any more in control of their destinies than corporate worker bees?

Re: The Rise of Men Who Don’t Work – And What They Do Instead

#14

Post by rtpg »

marcell wrote: post #12
MCRed wrote: post #2

Look ma, that's me! Free of a soul crushing corporate job, back to doing a "startup", I may not have the cash rolling in, but at least I'm in control of my destiny. Hey Ma, I'm moving in! I think there are a lot of people out there like me. I have some money coming from side projects, several opportunities to grow that, and several opportunities for new side projects. And quite a long personal runway before I have to…

It is great that you are able to do this, but not that your situation is not the one described in the article. The article discusses men who only qualify for low/no skill jobs paying $10-15/hr. That is markedly different from a tech startup cofounder who could get a software engineering job paying $100k+ with benefits.

yeah, a big problem with the whole "Don't need BigCo's job cuz I'm running a SV startup!" narrative is that it's really only accessible for people who already belonged to pretty privileged classes (exceptions exist, obviously.)

A portion of the population does not get opportunities to develop these skills and were once allowed low-skilled jobs that paid "decently" but have now found themselves squeezed due to inflation and companies hoarding cash instead of spending it.

Re: The Rise of Men Who Don’t Work – And What They Do Instead

#16

Post by bildung »

IndianAstronaut wrote: post #8

>Some countries have developed policies that encourage older people to leave the labor force, so they do not “crowd out” younger workers Classic lump of labor fallacy.

Classic lump of labor fallacy.

That fallacy is far from proven, see e.g. http://econpapers.repec.org/article/tafrsocec/v_3a65_3ay_3a2...

Re: The Rise of Men Who Don’t Work – And What They Do Instead

#18

Post by return0 »

bruceb wrote: post #5

There are books on this phenomenon. Part of what they say is now men have access to their basic needs with out needing to work as much. Entertainment is abundant and relatively cheap and sex isn't tied to marriage. You can lounge around and be if not exactly satisfied, at least not terrible wanting for stuff. Of course these guys are screwed when it comes to retirement.

just "these guys"? everyone will be screwed.

Re: The Rise of Men Who Don’t Work – And What They Do Instead

#20

Post by XorNot »

IndianAstronaut wrote: post #7
brandonmenc wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's not as big a deal to me as it would be to men of my age 20 years ago. Less than 6% of workers are working computer or math jobs - of any kind - which suggests that the overwhelming majority of people still have a difficult time when they're listed as "unemployed."

One common trend I have seen in my social circle is the lack of any employable skills. They may or may not have college degrees, but in general their degrees did not give them concrete job skills or they don't have a degree and no skilled trade. What would ideally happen is people learn a skilled trade if they are stuck on the job market. This training should also happen in high school.

Except the education system is bad at picking winners. What's in demand when you're in highschool is not what's in demand by the time you're entering the workforce.
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