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It's been terrible for families, but great for corporations as a way to get cheaper labor. Double the labor force = lower wages. They sold 2x breadwinners as "p

It's been terrible for families, but great for corporations as a way to get cheaper labor. Double the labor force = lower wages. They sold 2x breadwinners as "progress" and we believed it.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
I still believe it. I have a son and daughter, and I would not want my daughters' opportunities to be restricted. That was progress. The proper way to counteract the increased labor supply would be to use laws to reduce labor supply, such as overtime wages, minimum paid time off, parental leave, etc.
- dantheman 5y ago
  I don't what world you live in where there is too much labor. We have shortages of everything and always have. We need more housing more, more technology, better healthcare, more research... people can choose to live with less, but as of right now people seem to choose to want modern amenities.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    "Too much labor" is a subjective metric that depends on what type of quality of life you think is acceptable for the people earning the lowest wages, but changes in the price of labor indicate the movement of supply and demand curves. And the changes in the price of labor according to this report clearly show unfavorable amounts of supply of labor relative to demand for the bottom 3 (or even 4) quintiles of wage earners over the previous decades: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R44705/6 https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R44705/6 Recent changes due to the pandemic response shocking the system and catalyzing changes in the labor markets, are not reflected in the reports above, and I suspect we (USA) are just beginning to see a reallocation of labor resources in the market as the US finally confronts a reducing portion of working age population relative to non working (old people) population.
  - cma 5y ago
    If you adjust for square footage we have way more housing than previous eras, it just isn't well distributed. Not a labor problem.

It's been terrible for families, but great for corporations as a way to get cheaper labor. Double the labor force = lower wages. They sold 2x breadwinners as "progress" and we believed it.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

I still believe it. I have a son and daughter, and I would not want my daughters' opportunities to be restricted. That was progress. The proper way to counteract the increased labor supply would be to use laws to reduce labor supply, such as overtime wages, minimum paid time off, parental leave, etc.

dantheman 5y ago
I don't what world you live in where there is too much labor. We have shortages of everything and always have. We need more housing more, more technology, better healthcare, more research... people can choose to live with less, but as of right now people seem to choose to want modern amenities.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  "Too much labor" is a subjective metric that depends on what type of quality of life you think is acceptable for the people earning the lowest wages, but changes in the price of labor indicate the movement of supply and demand curves. And the changes in the price of labor according to this report clearly show unfavorable amounts of supply of labor relative to demand for the bottom 3 (or even 4) quintiles of wage earners over the previous decades: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R44705/6 https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R44705/6 Recent changes due to the pandemic response shocking the system and catalyzing changes in the labor markets, are not reflected in the reports above, and I suspect we (USA) are just beginning to see a reallocation of labor resources in the market as the US finally confronts a reducing portion of working age population relative to non working (old people) population.
- cma 5y ago
  If you adjust for square footage we have way more housing than previous eras, it just isn't well distributed. Not a labor problem.