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Journal Article
How Many Workers Are Truly “Missing” from the Labor Force?
As of March 2022, the U.S. labor force participation rate remained one percentage point below its pre-pandemic level. After accounting for the effects of slower population growth and the aging of thepopulation in the past two years, I estimate that around 2 million workers are missing from the laborforce. Individuals age 65 and older, whose participation rates remain persistently below pre-pandemiclevels, constitute most of the missing labor force.
Working Paper
Pulled Out or Pushed Out? Declining Male Labor Force Participation
The fraction of men working in the United States has declined consistently since the 1950s. This has contributed to slower labor force growth and resulted in considerable gaps between labor force participation in the U.S. and its industrialized peers. In this paper we examine the drivers of this trend, focusing specifically on prime-age men (aged 25–54). We compare non-participation rates across four generations – the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials – and decompose generational gaps into “push” and “pull” factors that are intended to be ...