NEWS ALERT: US-born men ditching the labor force in droves as immigration soars, analysis finds

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From Fox Business: Native-born American men have been fleeing the workforce in droves in a decades-long trend that coincides with a rise in immigration, according to a new analysis sounding the alarm on the issue.

The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released a study this week showing the share of working-age (16 to 64), U.S.-born men not participating in the labor force has soared since the 1960s, going from 11.3% neither working nor looking for work in April 1960 to 22.1% as of April of this year.

“This is relevant to the immigration debate because one of the arguments for allowing in so many legal immigrants, or even tolerating illegal immigration, is that there are not enough workers,” CIS said in a blog post detailing its findings. “But this ignores the enormous increase in the number of working-age people not in the labor force.

“Further, being out of the labor force is associated with profound social problems such as crime, overdose deaths, and welfare dependency,” the authors wrote. “Policy-makers should consider encouraging work among the millions on the economic sidelines rather than ignoring the problem by bringing in ever more immigrants.”

Below is an list of some of the alarming findings from the CIS study:

  • The share of U.S.-born, working-age (16 to 64) men not in the labor force has increased for six decades. It was 11.3 percent in April 1960, 16.9 percent in April 2000, and 22.1 percent in April 2024.
  • Among “prime-age” U.S.-born men (25 to 54), the group most likely to work, the share not in the labor force was 4 percent in April 1960, 8.5 percent in 2000 and 11.6 percent in 2024.
  • This deterioration is not due to “population aging”, as the analysis focuses only on the working-age. Further, even the share of younger U.S.-born men (25 to 34) not in the labor force has increased over the last six decades.
  • The share not in the labor force for U.S.-born Black, white, and Hispanic men has deteriorated significantly over the decades.
  • If the same share of U.S.-born men (16 to 64) were in the labor force in 2024 as in 1960 there would be nine million more U.S.-born men in the labor force. Even if the share returned only to the 2000 level, it would still add 4.4 million men to the labor force.
  • The number of U.S.-born men (16 to 64) not in the labor force increased by 13.2 million from 1960 to 2024. At the same time, the number of working-age immigrant men in the labor force increased by 14.1 million.
  • In April of this year, 28.6 percent of U.S.-born women (16 to 64) were not in the labor force, above the level pre-Covid, but below the low of 27.6 percent in 2000.
  • The total number of U.S.-born men and women (16 to 64) not in the labor force was 43 million in April 2024 — 8.5 million more than in 2000. This does not include the 9.7 million immigrant men and women not in the labor force nor does it include 5.8 million immigrant and U.S.-born unemployed.1
  • The share of immigrant men (16 to 64) out of the labor force is a complex story. It fell some from 1960 to 1980, then increased until 2006 and the Great Recession. Since then, the share not in the labor force has increased from 12.8 percent in 2006 to 14.8 percent in 2024.
  • For immigrant women, the share not in the labor force increased steadily for decades, though it still does not match the rate for U.S.-born women in 2024.

Among those without a bachelor’s:

  • Excluding teenagers, the share of U.S.-born men 20 to 64 without a bachelor’s not in the labor force increased from 7 percent in 1960 to 13 percent in 1980, to 15.9 percent in 2000, and to 21.8 percent in April of this year.
  • Looking only at “prime-age” U.S.-born men, 25 to 54, without a bachelor’s, we see a rise in the share not in the labor force, from 4.2 percent in 1960, to 10.6 percent in 2000, to 15.2 percent in April 2024.
  • The share of U.S.-born women (20 to 64) without a bachelor’s not in the labor force was 31.9 percent in April of this year, lower than the 33.1 percent in 2019 before Covid. However, the share has not returned to the 28.3 percent it was in 2000.
  • Male immigrants (20 to 64) without a bachelor’s have not been entirely immune from the rise in the share not working. In 2006, 11 percent of less-educated immigrant men were not in the labor force. In 2024 it was 13.8 percent.

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