Here are the faces of labor dropouts
Americans are learning to look past the headline unemployment rate to see how many people have stopped looking for jobs as a sign of our nation’s economic health.
But who are the people dropping out and why have they given up?
That’s an important question for President Donald Trump’s administration. The labor participation rate is one of the key gauges of success for his presidency.
The dropouts are exactly who you would expect: men without a post-high school education, minorities and veterans, according to researchers at the think tank Brookings.
About 98 percent of men 25 to 54 were in the labor market in 1954. That number has dropped to 88 percent.
About 94 percent of men who had only a high school diploma were in the workforce in 1968, and so were 93 percent of dropouts. Since then, 83 percent of those with only a high school diploma are still working, and the participation rate for dropouts is 78 percent.
Employers say they don’t need as much unskilled labor. This is not so much a case of people dropping out of the workforce, as low-skilled workers getting sidelined. If policymakers want to boost the economy, they need to ensure young people get a good education.
The problems facing African-Americans is threefold. First, old-fashioned racism, where even today, too many employers will hire an unqualified Anglo before they will hire a qualified African-American, according to studies.
The second is segregated schools, where blacks still don’t get an equal education to those attending majority-white schools.
Lastly, blacks also experience a far higher felony conviction and incarceration rate than any other racial group. Again, studies prove that blacks are treated differently.
As a veteran, I can’t say I’m surprised that my cohort suffers from a low participation rate. A highly qualified veteran can become frustrated to have an employer dismiss their experiences in favor of someone with a more traditional education. And sometimes our pride can get in the way of accepting entry-level assignments.
Employers and policymakers can do many things to address these problems. Support local schools, start apprenticeship programs and institute hiring protocols that are race neutral, and accept experience in lieu of education.