Increasing numbers of Americans are neither in the workforce nor looking for work. Steven Malanga, senior editor at City Journal, explores both the why and the how of this.
He quotes Nicholas Eberstadt from his 2016 book Men Without Work.
How do prime-age [non-working] men support themselves? The short answer is, apparently, they don’t. Relatives and friends and the U.S. government [do].
Actually some do support themselves via crime, but statistically show up as “unemployed” as their income is neither reported nor taxed.
The why is more complicated, involving criminal convictions, drug abuse, mental illness, and something called antisocial personality disorder.
Between 40 percent and 70 percent of male prisoners suffer from antisocial personality disorder, defined in a Nature article as “a life-long condition involving habitual irresponsible and delinquent behavior.” Among the chief characteristics: “failure to conform to law, failure to sustain consistent employment, manipulation of others for personal gain, deception of others, and failure to develop stable interpersonal relationships.”
Such individuals obviously do not become ideal employees. Hat tip to RealClearPolitics for the link.
Spoiler: this article is likely to depress the reader.
