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by Nicholas Eberstadt
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Imagine a country where one in eight men between the ages of twenty-five and fifty-five, the traditional prime of working life, has no job and is not looking for one. Imagine that this country is not in the grip of a depression, but is in fact one of the wealthiest nations on earth. Imagine further that this situation has been building for half a century, through economic booms and busts, through technological revolutions and industrial decline, and yet has somehow escaped the notice of most pol
**Author:** Nicholas Eberstadt
**Estimated Reading Time:** 45 minutes
**What You'll Learn:** Why millions of American men in their prime working years have left the labor force entirely, what this exodus means for the nation's economic and social fabric, and what can be done to reverse a crisis hiding in plain sight.
**Who This Book Is For:** Anyone concerned about the American economy, the state of families and communities, public policy, or the quiet unraveling of work as a central pillar of American life.
Imagine a country where one in eight men between the ages of twenty-five and fifty-five, the traditional prime of working life, has no job and is not looking for one. Imagine that this country is not in the grip of a depression, but is in fact one of the wealthiest nations on earth. Imagine further that this situation has been building for half a century, through economic booms and busts, through technological revolutions and industrial decline, and yet has somehow escaped the notice of most policymakers, journalists, and citizens. That country is the United States of America. In *Men Without Work*, Nicholas Eberstadt confronts one of the most consequential and least discussed social transformations of our time. The postwar American economy once boasted some of the highest rates of male employment in the developed world. Today, the United States ranks near the bottom among affluent nations in the share of prime-age men who work. More than seven million American men between twenty-five and fifty-five are entirely detached from the labor force. They are not unemployed in the technical sense, because they are not actively seeking work. They have simply stopped participating. This is not a book about the Great Recession or the decline of manufacturing, though those forces play a role. It is a book about something deeper and more troubling: a quiet unraveling of the relationship between American men and the world of work. It is about a flight from work that has continued for decades, through periods of prosperity and periods of hardship alike. It is about a social crisis that has somehow remained invisible even as it has reshaped families, communities, and the nation's economic potential. Eberstadt, a political economist and demographer at the American Enterprise Institute, brings decades of research experience to bear on this question. His approach is relentlessly empirical. He does not rely on anecdotes or ideological talking points. Instead, he marshals an overwhelming body of data to demonstrate the scale of the problem, to identify who the un-working men are, to examine how they live, and to explore what their detachment from work means for the rest of us. The picture that emerges is deeply unsettling. The un-working men are…
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Get the complete summary in the appMore than seven million prime-age American men are neither working nor looking for work. They have dropped out of the la
The decline in male work rates has been underway for more than half a century, through economic booms and busts alike. I
The United States ranks near the bottom among developed nations in prime-age male labor force participation. Other wealt
The un-working are not enjoying leisure. They spend five and a half hours a day watching screens and report high levels
The expansion of disability benefits has made it possible for millions of men to survive without working. The majority o
The United States has created a uniquely large population of ex-offenders who face uniquely severe barriers to employmen
"Men Without Work" is a strong fit if you want practical ideas around economics, sociology, politics, especially themes like more than seven million prime-age american men are neither working nor looking for work. they have dropped out of the la; the decline in male work rates has been underway for more than half a century, through economic booms and busts alike. i. The MinuteRead summary distills these concepts into a focused read, whether you're deciding whether to buy the book or applying its lessons at work.
Motivated to help readers with the history, causes, and implications of the phenomenon, as well as possible solutions, Nicholas Eberstadt wrote “Men Without Work” as a practical guide drawn from years of experience and research. In “Men Without Work”, Nicholas Eberstadt focuses on america is now home to an immense army of jobless men no longer even looking for work—more than seven million. Through “Men Without Work”, Nicholas Eberstadt distills the core ideas on economics into lessons readers ca…
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