Comment by Hilift
2 months ago
Some guy wrote a book recently and claimed that about 10% of workforce-eligible men are long term out of the workforce, due to some type of disability. Also 50% either aren't engaged at work or don't really do anything essential, meaning their job could disappear and it wouldn't be a huge impact.
https://www.richmondfed.org/publications/research/econ_focus...
https://www.frbsf.org/research-and-insights/publications/eco...
I think this is and overlooked factor. Though living standards have not fallen, the perceived risk of it falling is probably at an all time high. We got rid of pretty much all cultural safety nets, and now people are desperate to replace the lost security.