U.S. — University of Connecticut economists Remy Levin and Daniela Vidart published a paper in 2026 arguing that men's beliefs about the benefits of work are shaped by the labor market conditions they observe during childhood. They stated that childhood exposure explained nearly all of the labor force participation dynamics for men.

Levin and Vidart found that young males who observe weak wages and high unemployment among men around them form pessimistic expectations about their own prospects. The effect of childhood labor market exposure on male labor force participation persisted even after men moved to a different state, according to their study. The economists also found that the effects were stronger among men exposed to the experiences of their own racial group. Levin and Vidart wrote, "Our findings suggest that experience effects can turn short-run declines in labor demand into long-run declines in labor supply." They also concluded, "It is the labor market environment men grow up in, more than what they observe as adults, that shapes their later participation."

The labor force participation rate for men aged 20 and older in the U.S. was 69.5% in May 2026, according to Labor Department data. This figure was 76% in May 2006. In 1950, the male labor force participation rate in the U.S. peaked at 86.4%. It was 79.7% in 1970 and 76.4% in 1990.

A 2022 study from the Boston Fed authored by Pinghui Wu examined non-college-educated men leaving the workforce. Weekly earnings for men without college degrees in the U.S. declined by 17% since 1980, adjusting for inflation, the Boston Fed study indicated. In contrast, weekly earnings for college-educated men in the U.S. rose by 20% during the same period, adjusting for inflation. Wu wrote, "If the increasing wage gap between high and low earners directly or indirectly affects men's aggregate labor supply, wage inequality might have carried wider implications to the economy than previously believed."

A previous analysis by the San Francisco Fed identified reasons men were pulled out of the labor force due to schooling or caretaking duties. The San Francisco Fed also stated that men were pushed out of the labor force due to a mismatch in skills or a disability. Financial analyst Meredith Whitney previously stated that young single men living at home and playing video games are behind a "crisis of the American male."