Looking at some random sources around [1], some of the studies on this conclude the issue is these men don't want to work for such low status/pay jobs, and the

Looking at some random sources around [1], some of the studies on this conclude the issue is these men don't want to work for such low status/pay jobs, and the skill bars are too high for the jobs they would work. Many are dependent on wives/parents to get by. So not paying welfare probably won't help much because those men aren't on it to begin with. If you want people to work, you need to be willing to take on some of the opportunity risk and train them. If you want them to work in the trades, you probably need to train them and pay them well. Even then the status issue wrt blue-collar work is hard to get around without a significant cultural shift. [1]: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2016/08/15/men-not-at-work-why-so-many-men-ages-of-25-to-54-are-not-working/ https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2016/08/15/men-not-a...