2/4: Men Without Work: Post-Pandemic Edition (2022) (New Threats to Freedom Series) by Nicholas Eberstadt (Author)
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
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🗓️ 28 December 2022
⏱️ 9 minutes
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2/4: Men Without Work: Post-Pandemic Edition (2022) (New Threats to Freedom Series) by Nicholas Eberstadt (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/Men-Without-Work-Post-Pandemic-Threats/dp/1599475979
Nicholas Eberstadt’s landmark 2016 study, Men Without Work, cast a spotlight on the collapse of work for men in modern America. Rosy reports of low unemployment rates and “full or near full employment” conditions, he contends, were overlooking a quiet, continuing crisis: Depression-era work rates for American men of “prime working age” (25–54).
In a brand new introduction, Eberstadt explains how the government’s response to Covid-19 inadvertently exacerbated the flight from work in America. From indiscriminate pandemic shutdowns to almost unconditional “unemployment” benefits, Americans were essentially paid not to work.
Given the devastating economic impact of the Covid calamity and the unforeseen aftershocks yet to come, this reissue of Eberstadt’s groundbreaking work is timelier than ever.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Holly and Cheneyce are prepping for a big weekend away and it needs to go exactly to plan |
| 0:05.5 | so they need to know exactly what they get in, like the choice of over 800 hotels. |
| 0:09.9 | Yes! Right in the centre! |
| 0:12.1 | So there are only moments away from where they want to be, with a super comfy bed waiting |
| 0:16.8 | for them at the end of the night. And with checkout by 12pm they can even hit snooze. |
| 0:21.9 | Enjoy the same feeling whatever the trip. Premiere in, rest easy. Only available to book at PremiereIn.com. |
| 0:35.2 | This is CBSI on the World. I'm John Batschew with Nicholas Aberstadt. Nick Aberstadt is the author |
| 0:40.5 | of Men Without Work. This is a post-pandemic edition. We'll get there but we have to work through |
| 0:46.2 | the mystery of 10 million men without work, not looking for work and surviving in some fashion |
| 0:53.9 | in this rich and dynamic culture. Who are they? Nick, this is a mystery that can be solved by categories. |
| 1:02.4 | I learned from you that a married man with children and foreign born is guaranteed to be at work, guaranteed. |
| 1:11.3 | It's automatic. And those categories, if not followed, oh, education, with a high school |
| 1:20.0 | or better education, guaranteed to be at work. And if those categories are not followed, |
| 1:25.1 | that's who they are. Correct? The odds are really striking here, aren't they? So if you are a |
| 1:33.6 | foreign born guy in the USA, it doesn't matter what your ethnicity is or practically what your |
| 1:40.0 | educational background is, you're more likely to be in the labor force than your native born |
| 1:47.6 | counterpart. And with respect to marriage, it's amazing how much lower the work and labor force |
| 2:00.8 | participation rates are for guys who've never been married than for guys who are married. |
| 2:06.8 | By the way, also, John, interesting fact, even for guys who are not married, if they have kids |
| 2:14.4 | under the same roof, they're way more likely to be looking for a job or working. It's something |
| 2:20.0 | like the provider in policy, you know? It is. And we have another term that's obvious now, the NILF, |
| 2:27.2 | not in the labor force. As of 2015, when Nick had the most recent statistics for his publication, |
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