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Men without work: A global well-being and ill-being comparison

Author

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  • Carol Graham

    (The Brookings Institution and University of Maryland, USA, and IZA, Germany)

  • Sergio Pinto

    (University of Maryland, USA)

Abstract

The global economy is full of progress paradoxes. Improvements in technology, reducing poverty, and increasing life expectancy coexist with persistent poverty in the poorest countries and increasing inequality and unhappiness in many wealthy ones. A key driver of the latter is the decline in the status and wages of low-skilled labor, with an increasing percentage of prime-aged men (and to a lesser extent women) simply dropping out of the labor force. The trend is starkest in the US, though frustration in this same cohort is also prevalent in Europe, and it is reflected in voting patterns in both contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Carol Graham & Sergio Pinto, 2019. "Men without work: A global well-being and ill-being comparison," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 464-464, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izawol:journl:2019:n:464
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Melani Cammett & Nisreen Salti, 2018. "Popular grievances in the Arab region: evaluating explanations for discontent in the lead-up to the uprisings," Middle East Development Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 64-96, January.
    2. Carol Graham & Sergio Pinto, 2019. "Unequal hopes and lives in the USA: optimism, race, place, and premature mortality," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(2), pages 665-733, April.
    3. Sergio Pinto & Carol Graham, 2019. "Men without work: Why are they so unhappy in the US compared to other places?," Working Papers 2019-016, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    4. Amin, Magdi & Assaad, Ragui & al-Baharna, Nazar & Dervis, Kemal & Desai, Raj M. & Dhillon, Navtej S. & Galal, Ahmed & Ghanem, Hafez & Graham, Carol & Kaufmann, Daniel, 2012. "After the Spring: Economic Transitions in the Arab World," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199924929.
    5. Alan B. Krueger, 2017. "Where Have All the Workers Gone? An Inquiry into the Decline of the U.S. Labor Force Participation Rate," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 48(2 (Fall)), pages 1-87.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    well-being; ill-being; MENA; LAC; labor force dropout; life satisfaction;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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