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OP, isn't your concern about this a bit ill-timed? People are still out of work due to Covid. I wonder what the statistic was before Covid. That would be a more meaningful measure of something we could consider to be a norm.
The article mentioned that men's participation in the labor force has been in long term decline, so this trend pre-dates Covid.
yes - if welfare was so great - wouldn't we all want to be on it?
No.
I don't think it works like that. I think it's unwise to assume that just because you would never live that way, that nobody else would. It doesn't mean they like living that way, but they tolerate it. Some people will put up with a life they don't like if they're getting by. Most humans aren't wired for happiness or maximum output/performance. We're wired for survival, for having just enough to get by. In the not so distant past, just getting by took up almost all of our energy. These days it doesn't, but the default program in our brains is still 'just enough to get by'.
This is becoming more and more popular that an unemployed and not employable male is living off their working spouse.
"Eh".. if it works, then it works. It is a volatile system since if the working spouse dies, the other loses income. The nonworking spouse dies, then it's still a hardship if there was a lot of housework to be done... childrearing in particular, but also just cleaning up, cooking, other kitchen work. I've known single people who pretty much just don't do **** around the house. Living alone, they do have that option, whereas only vacuuming the house every 6 months or so would less likely fly with a family, or roommates.
Otherwise, the "living off their working woman" situations I know of are due to money. The husband _could_ work, but the wife makes so much money that his time is much more valuable being a househusband than doing another job that'll end up adding a smaller extra fraction of income. For one case, both were working, but when the wife got a PhD, she alone made more money vs. when they both were with Masters degrees.
This has gotten to be a big problem around here. They stand in the middle of traffic and some shout at people who do not give them money. Some are dropped off by van by someone organizing this activity. At the same time, signs are posted everywhere looking for help. CT has a minimum of $13 an hour and there are many openings where no skills or experience are required. Social agencies should be working with employers and mental health agencies to find a way to help move panhandlers to full-time employment and housing (many hold signs stating they are homeless).
This was not common place 2 years ago but now it is pervasive. It also is no longer just contained in the cities. With so many opportunities and a strong social service network, the problem should be getting better not worse.
I honestly say I can't blame them. I'd rather they be working "actual jobs", but if you're making more money panhandling, then that just shows how awful things still are. Also note that if people are homeless, they may not be able to get jobs since they have no address to put down. They have no showers so they won't stay employed for long even if hired. Some homeless don't take jobs because they have no money for bus fare.
When I mentioned the welfare state, I was not specifically talking about the welfare program itself, but the government's entire framework of social programs, often referred to as the welfare state collectively.
Really? You meant all of it? So, you don't want widows and their kids to get any assistance? You'd prefer widows earn money through prostitution or taking in laundry, like in the old days? Let me tell you, in "the old days" those kids didn't get 3 meals a day. You can't support kids on laundry or house-cleaning. You can pay the rent, but you can't feed them much. (They need clothes, too.) So, if the kids are in school, you'd take away their free lunch? Is your middle name "Scrooge", by any chance?
No SSDI for the disabled? Let them beg on street corners? You know, like "in the old days"?
No Medicaid? (It's not that great a program, from what I hear, but it's better than nothing.)
What a wonderful world you envision for everyone else. I hope we never get there. Keep electing candidates dedicated to robbing the federal budget blind, in order to give tax breaks to the people who don't need them, though, and you never know; we just might get there.
No. I am not a stock broker even though I have stocks as part of my retirement portfolio. I am a hard working American just like others...
Your issue is the concept of value is messed up. Oddly enough the software you use to access this site is also "not tangible".
There are different definitions of the term, the one I used was in relation to economics; being physical assets. Software, by definition; is an intangible asset.
My apologies for being a smarta$$ in previous posting; as this is serious business.
The other day I had a discussion with a local business owner, who cannot find employees.
Unfortunately, as a small business; she cannot afford to offer employees any future.
Which is at the root of this thread.
People have woken up, and don't wish to work for someone else's dreams; and you can't blame them.
This list sounds bogus because everything listed above required either some sort of capital or work at some point.
The only one that I agree with is "Living off of Family Members".
TBH, even that is not bad. America has a very independent and an ideology that honors individualism when most of the other world is more inclusive.
For example, there is nothing wrong with adult children living at home well into their adult years until they start their own families.
The tragedy is, that 18 year olds are cast out of a 4 BD 3500sqft home with just two adult left in it. Why? Why can't the young adult continue to live in the home and contribute to the mortgage if their is one? Two people benefit. The parents and the young adult. THe parents get extra income and the young adult pays lower rent and can save more for when the time does come to move out.
Also, you have grandparents living in completely separate homes and/or a retirement home. Again, you have two people living in a 5ksqft home, yet, two homes are being maintained unnecessarily.
Move grandma and grandpa in and rent their house out. Guess what? Now you have income from your children and the grandparents. The grandparents no longer have to maintain a mortgage or if their home is paid off, they don't have to maintain a house. Their house is generating income. And now you have even more income to put towards retirement.
But we are so accustomed to everyone having their own spaces. I understand the need for privacy. But at what cost? Kids still go to college and have roommates. And now more than ever, they are leaving college and still have roommates.
The alternative is you have parents who are entering into retirement having to prop up their kids who are saddled with student loans helping them maintain their own housing. ANd you have the grandparents getting older still trying to maintain a single family home. Why?
There are tons of homes with unused basements that can be converted into mini apartments. Some with backyards big enough for a tiny home.
Our kids will be welcome to stay with us until they are able enough to go out on their own without so much debt.
When I mentioned the welfare state, I was not specifically talking about the welfare program itself, but the government's entire framework of social programs, often referred to as the welfare state collectively.
Does this welfare state include corporate welfare? Corporations that accept government funds or "tax breaks" that they don't really need?
For example, let's look at the Amazon HQ fiasco. Did Amazon really need cash-strapped municipalities create budgetary miracles just for them to choose a location? No.
Do corporations really need to get bailed out time and time again because they are too important to fail?
What about corporations who build fines into the cost of doing business while an average employee gets fired for less?
Let's get corporations off of welfare and leave the poor alone. The people on welfare don't have billions in the bank with their hand out.
We're supposed to protect the poor, the disabled, the widows, and children. But we in this country point fingers and call them lazy.
It's okay if someone is on welfare and they need some time to get back on their feet. TBH those that are truly lazy and game the system are a very small percentage.
We don't know these peoples' circumstances. It's wrong to paint a broad brush. There are a number of factors at play in each and every welfare recipient.
We can't say someone has been on assistance too long without understanding their specific condition or circumstance.
Almost one-third of all working-age men in America aren’t doing diddly-squat. They don’t have a job, and they aren’t looking for one either. One-third of all working-age men. That’s almost 30 million people!
How do they live? What are they doing for money?
-Unemployment insurance
-Early retirement, pensions, disability and lawsuits
-Savings, trading stocks, and bitcoin
-Working for cash, aka the under-the-table economy
-Living off family members
-Illegal work
-Living off the land
It seems like working legally to provide for yourself in America is really just one option these days.
early retirement is not legal?
dammit.
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