Rubio report: Get men back to work

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, (R-Fl), recently released a report he penned stressing the urgent need to get a population of men back to work and in turn, getting the nation back on track.

The report, titled “The State of the Working (And Non-Working) Man,” chronicles the disappearance of jobs paying a family wage, the explosion in the cost of middle-class goods and the mass exit of men from the labor force over more than half a century.

“This report sheds light on the problems men face as workers, but also describes the role that policymakers can play in shaping an economy and culture in which men can more often succeed as providers, husbands, fathers, and community leaders,” Rubio stated. “That’s an ambitious task, and not one for government alone. It will require us to reorient our economy, our culture, and our politics so that they serve the common good of men, women, and children alike. But it’s the only way for us to break out of decadence and restore our nation’s strength and prosperity.”

The problem is perhaps most visible on college campuses, Rubio stressed, where there is now a larger gender gap in awarded bachelor’s degrees favoring females than there was favoring males in 1972.

“The problem has gotten so bad that some colleges have begun practicing affirmative action for men,” Rubio said.

For most of America’s history, the vast majority of men in the prime of life who did not work were disabled or unemployed through no fault of their own, according to the report.

“If large numbers of adult men were not working, it was safe to assume this was due to some serious disruption in the economy, such as a recession. Able-bodied adult men who chose not to work were rare and stigmatized,” Rubio stated.

Today, there are far more men who choose not to work than who are unemployed through no fault of their own. Labor force participation among all men has fallen by nearly 20 percentage points, from a high of 87.4 percent in 1949 to 68 percent in July of 2023. Among men in their prime working years (ages 25-54), the labor force participation rate has declined by eight percentage points, from 97 percent in 1963 to 89.1 percent in 2023, report statistics showed.

So, what needs to be done? Restoring opportunity and work for American men will require a concerted effort by government, civic institutions, and private industry. But first, it requires recognition that there is a problem at all, Rubio noted. “The recent uptick in attention to men’s issues, even in mainstream outlets, is encouraging. But still, the issue is treated as an oddity and sideshow to the more important advance of progressive priorities. Recognition comes grudgingly. Men still exist, these pieces seem to sigh, so we need to figure out how to deal with them,” he added.

Here are other measures, the report stated: Congress can start reforming regulations that make the United States uncompetitive in industry, such as environmental review requirements that delay projects by years and increase costs.

It can shield American industry from unfair competition by retaining Section 301 tariffs on Chinese firms and increasing tariffs where necessary.

The government can also help mobilize private capital by identifying industrial projects of strategic significance, securing commitments of funding, and backstopping those commitments with loan guarantees and other incentives.

Lastly, Congress should rethink how federal disability assistance programs approach people who suffer from mental health challenges, Rubio said. Rising mental health claims have been one of the largest sources of growth in Social Security disability insurance in recent decades. Depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia accounted for more than one-fifth of total insurance claims in 2020, report data showed.

“This is particularly concerning because psychiatric research identifies stable work as an important ingredient in the treatment of people who suffer from severe mental illness,” Rubio wrote.

There needs to be a movement to provide productive work for men, to give them “respect and purpose, and set high expectations for their behavior, then they will strengthen the nation in turn,” according to the report.

“If we do not give men the opportunity to succeed, then we can expect a further stagnation in men’s fortunes and further alienation between the sexes. That would be a tragedy for men, women, and the increasingly lonely children born into such a future,” said Rubio.

To read the entire report, go to https://www.rubio.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/09.05.23-Labor-Day-Report-vf-PWR.pdf