The Job Carousel: How Poor-Quality Jobs Contribute to Declining Labor Force Participation Among Working-Class Men

In 2015, more one-in-seven white, prime-age (25-54) men with less than a college degree was not in the labor force, the highest rate on record. While there has been ample scholarship about the causes of the declining labor... [ view full abstract ]

In 2015, more one-in-seven white, prime-age (25-54) men with less than a college degree was not in the labor force, the highest rate on record. While there has been ample scholarship about the causes of the declining labor force participation rate, the declining labor force participation rate has not been robustly connected to the rise of low-wage and nonstandard work. This paper, “The Job Carousel: How Poor-Quality Jobs Contribute to Declining Labor Force Participation”, makes that connection using in-depth interviews with working-class men from rural Pennsylvania. Within the labor force experiences of the men in this study, I identify what I call “the job carousel”, which describes the churning these men experience between jobs that are relatively fungible with few ladders of advancement and relatively little long-term job security. While some men in the study achieved positions that earned a respectable hourly pay, many men went on to leave or lose those jobs and earn less in subsequent positions. While in some cases the men are primarily at fault for losing good jobs, in more cases the job left them. Many of these jobs do not offer long-term stability, and these men cannot count on a predictable ladder of advancement. Thus, they move among comparable jobs, often at different companies, sometimes stepping forward but often stepping back when making what are mostly lateral moves. Because of this relative disincentive to work in the bottom of the formal labor market, these men can hop on and from “the job carousel” without the perception of much wage or career penalty. There will always be a low-wage job with a low bar to entry waiting for them when and if they need it, and they can often make as much money off-the-books as they can from these low-wage positions. Further, it is difficult for many of these men to find, and more importantly to keep, good-paying jobs. About half the sample had at one point earned at least $15.00 an hour, but perhaps more revealing, over half the men were not in the highest paying position they have ever held. Some men eventually leave the labor force for disability benefits, while some stay on “the job carousel” hoping for one of the rare good jobs. Findings have implications for understandings of the low-wage labor market, incentive structures around work and nonwork, and policy responses to labor market precarity.