“There has been more of a transition where parents are supporting their adult children for longer,” she said. “The data do show that more young adult men live with their parents than women. The wealth transfer from older generations to younger generations is part of that story.”
And then there are the partners. “Almost everybody you talk to will have a story” about supporting an unemployed man, Ullrich said, adding that what’s changed isn’t the dynamic itself, but the fact that it no longer carries the stigma it once did. The stay-at-home boyfriend, once a punchline, is now a statistically significant labor market phenomenon.
A landmark paper published in the Journal of Political Economy, first circulated through the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that roughly 70% of the hours young men aren’t working are being spent on video games and recreational computer use. The economists calculated that improvements in gaming technology since 2004 alone can explain nearly half the increase in young men’s leisure hours.
“I think that’s part of the story — the basement story,” Ullrich said, in reference to a trope of young men playing video games in their parent’s basement.
The opioid epidemic compounded it, hitting non-college-educated men especially hard. And critically, men, compared to women, largely don’t qualify for government assistance programs like SNAP or TANF without a disability, meaning when they exit the workforce, the financial burden falls on whoever is closest to them.
Or, you could educate yourself on theory to find out why the system isn’t working for anyone but the rich, which is why people educated in critical thinking almost always end up further left than they were. I’ll give you a hand. Start with Adam Smith. The Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations are the basis for collectivist thought that works far better than authoritarian or capitalist theory has worked for about 2 centuries.
Funny that. The moment that Adam “The Father of Capitalism” Smith, predicted would happen and cause late stage capitalism, actually happened in the mid 1840’s to mid 1850’s, the privileged philosophers and thinkers of the time came up with a more equitable system of economics that Adam Smith openly said was needed to transition away from the despotism and authoritarianism that capitalism will naturally breed. They named it communism based on the communes that The Christ told his followers to form and be a part of ≈2000 years previous.
I’m 45 years old, and almost retired. Next year baby! I have seen absolutely zero evidence that Horse and Sparrow economics works despite the entire capitalist world forcing that system on the world for the last 150 years. In fact I have seen multiple studies that show that the current capitalist system of economics that every single country worldwide is forced to participate in, leads to the utter destruction of both our planet and our species. Transferring away from the inherently violent and greedy system may allow us enough time to actually figure out how to spread off this planet and make us, as a species, somewhat unkillable. Even with natural disaters that would wipe out every dead planet we colonized and terraformed, within a 50 to 150 light year radius.