Worker Wellness Blog: America’s Young Men
Date Posted: October 8, 2024
Posted In: Discussion, Workforce,
by Dr. John Gaal
Editor’s Note: Each week, Dr. John Gaal, director of worker wellness for the Missouri Works Initiative, a non-profit workforce formed by the Missouri AFL-CIO, collects and comments on news and trends in workforce wellness and life balance. Construction Forum carries the Worker Wellness & Well-Being Blog as a regular feature.
The MO Works Initiative focuses on creating healthy and recovery friendly workplaces; connecting laid-off workers with job-search or upskilling resources for future employment; and collaborating with community partners to offer innovative points of entry to traditional apprenticeship opportunities.
This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog looks at how, in spite of OSHA’s rules, workers continue to be killed by industrial machinery-related accidents; to how your gut microbiome plays a major role in your ability to deal with stress; to the story of a teenage hacker…a repeat cybercrime offender.
This week I would like to take this opportunity to take a closer look at the WSJ’s piece on Why America’s Young Men Continue to Fall Behind. As noted therein, as the playing field for young women becomes more equal, young women are taking advantage of more opportunities than young men.
While this article points to how the pandemic derailed careers and schooling for many of those floundering males, I would suggest that this problem goes back several decades and that COVID is only one piece of a bigger puzzle.
As mentioned in this blog before, we:
1) need to consider how the “College for All” mantra—thrusted upon no less than two generations of OUR young Americans—has also played a part in this botched social experiment. For the most part, many college freshman are still too young (and immature) to make a decision that impacts the next 40 years. So why do we continue to aimlessly adhere to this mantra? Especially when we know that nearly 40% of those who begin college at age 18 do not complete it. In fact, what was once known as a 4-year degree is now on average a +5-year adventure! Furthermore, recent stats reveal that less than 30% of 2024 college graduates found work related to their majors. Hence, the rise of “Gap Year” programs!
2) must NOT forget about those high school and college graduates who were promised the earth, moon, and stars pre-2007—if they follow this “mythical” pathway—only to find out that the world’s economic crisis of 2007-2011 turned yet another one of those social “promises” on its head! In fact, studies have shown that graduating in a recession has a downward impact on one’s earnings for nearly a decade. Moreover, a Stanford study pointed out that “recession graduates have higher death rates in midlife, including significantly greater risk of drug overdoses and other so-called ‘deaths of despair’.” And, need I mention the crushing student debt many of these students and their families still continue to deal with?
In closing, this problem did not happen overnight and nor will it be resolved overnight. We must continue to provide options for those who choose not to take the “college” pathway. One such program that has garnered national attention resides right here in St. Louis: Building Union Diversity (BUD)…which now has versions of it running in Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia, MO. If you are not from one of these areas, then I suggest you look into what others are doing about creating and providing our next generation of leaders alternative pathways to college. Be a part of the solution by helping Gen Z become the next “toolbelt” generation!
Please check out the rest of this week’s blog: https://moworksinitiative.org/category/worker-wellness-news/
Sources:
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/young-american-men-lost-c1d799f7
https://moworksinitiative.org/pre-apprenticeship-in-construction/
https://www.constructiondive.com/news/gen-z-construction-recruiting-tech-benefits/728715/