Generations of Discontent: Labor Force Participation and Wages

November 19, 2024

Julie L. Hotchkiss Research Economist and Senior Adviser

Summary

After decades of decline, the labor force participation rates among men started rising in the middle and latter years of the 2010s and is currently at its highest level since 2010. This paper explores the potential role that the market wage and wage growth across generations of men could play in explaining, first, the decline, and then, the apparent reversal. This paper compares the experience of men to that of women, who had a much different labor force participation and wage experience than men across the generations.

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Policy Hub 2024-9

Data Stories in a Minute:

Key findings:

After decades of decline, male participation appears to have hit bottom and begun rising.
Stagnation of rising women’s participation since the early 1990s seems to have been arrested.
Generational differences in wages and wage growth are tied to participation trends for both men and women.

Center Affiliation: Center for Human Capital Studies

JEL classification: J22, J31

Key words: labor force participation rates, generation, cohort, reservation wage, wage growth

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.29338/ph2024-09