8 ms·

U-6, which covers people who have been temporarily discouraged from working but want to come back is 7.3%. If anything is keeping people out of the work force,

• aperson_hello 5y ago
  7.3% is near historic lows on U6, but that doesn't capture childcare (like you mentioned) or retirements (at least as big of an "issue" as childcare). Anti-work only actually comes into play in boomers who retired during the pandemic! Everyone else is effectively working if they can. This is just a pure labor shortage - driven by demographic shifts that were years in the making and just now accelerated and by childcare shortages that are nearly fully state-driven