Are Americans Hard Working or Not?

For generations, there has been a debate of whether people work harder or if people are lazier than in the past. In America, there are two sides to this argument and it may be difficult to know who is more justified in their beliefs. There those who believe that people are working harder now than in the past and there are those who believe people now are lazier. It is important to look at the facts before falling into the trap of being too naïve or being too pessimistic. Pessimistic people believe most Americans do not want to work hard and just want to live off the government, but there are some statistics that show this is not necessarily the case.

Welfare Statistics

One major part of this discussion is whether people just want to live off the government or not. The first statistics to look at is just how many people are using government assistance. According to Jacobson (2015), there are 105,862,000 full-time workers and 109,631,000 Americans receiving benefits from means-tested government programs. Now this may prove pessimistic people right but there are several key facts about this number. According to Jacobson (2015), whole families are included in the number if just one person in the household received benefits. An example would be if someone in a household receives Medicaid for having a disability then the whole family is included. This would not work because not everyone in the household may work such as retired people, children, disabled, or unemployed. The real number according to the U.S. Census Bureau is “52.2 million (or 21.3 percent) people in the U.S. participated in major means-tested government assistance programs each month in 2012”. This shows a small percentage of Americans are actually using government assistance and not the majority like some people would say.

Another important fact would be the number of people who are working who are receiving government assistance. In 2012 the Census Bureau estimated, “23% of households with at least one working adult received means-tested benefits” and 28% of people receiving Medicaid worked full-time (Jacobson, 2015). Another number to look at is the number of people on government assistance who are in a household with at least one member earning money, which is 73% according to Badger (2015). The final important number is “60 percent of food stamp recipients who were of working age and weren’t disabled were employed while receiving benefits” (Jacobson, 2015). This shows that many people and families getting government assistance do have a job but it is not enough to survive on. There are many people on welfare that are genuinely trying to earn a living for themselves or their family but need some assistance.

Another issue people argue about is whether there is rampant abuse and fraud in government assistance programs or not. According to Kertscher the rate of error in 2012 for food stamps was 3.42, which includes overpayments and underpayments (2014). Improper payments for Medicare was 10.1% in 2013, 8.1% for Medicaid in 2013, and 21-25% for the Earned Income Tax Credit in 2012 (Kertscher, 2014). Both numbers include overpayments and underpayments, which is important to know because it does not always mean fraud. A study in 2012 found that the rate of fraud for Medicare and Medicaid is between 3 and 10 percent (Kertscher, 2014). These numbers show that there is fraud and abuse but it is a small percentage compared to those who do not abuse the system. Now those that are more optimistic may think the percentage is so low that it does not need to be fixed, but it is a small problem that should be resolved.

Economic Statistics

The next issue in this debate is if Americans are working harder or if they are lazier than people in the past. Statistics that might be related to this subject are employment numbers. According to the April 2017 press release for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate was 4.4% with 7.1 million total people unemployed. There are people who believe unemployed people are not working hard enough to find a job. This may not be true because there is only 1.6 million people who are considered long-term unemployed (jobless for 27 straight weeks), which is 22.6 percent of all unemployed. (BLS). Now this not mean they are not looking for jobs because many could be trying. Another good indicator is labor participation rate, which is 62.9 % but it was equal to or lower than that from January of 1948 to March of 1978 (BLS). This may disprove the notion that people do not want to work more than any time in the past. This number also does not mean all the 37.1% of people that are of working age do not want to work.

According to dlt.ri.gov, 153,156,000 people are employed in 2017. According to Hipple (2014), “In 2014, 87.4 million people 16 years and older neither worked nor looked for work at any time during the year.” These are people of working age but they are not seeking employment. There are some people who would say that these are the people that are too lazy to work but again that is not true. About 38.5 million are retired, 16.3 million are disabled or ill, 16 million are going to school, 13.5 million for home responsibilities such as a stay at home parents, and 3.1 million for other reasons (Hipple, 2014). This shows that not all people who do not want a job are lazy and they do have legitimate reasons. If someone is retired they should not be expected to work because they may have enough money saved up to survive without a job. People who are disabled or ill and not working cannot physically do what a job requires. People going to school may be going full-time and do not have time for a job. Some people may say the 3.1 million that say for other reasons are lazy, but that may not be true and even if that was true it is only about 1% of the U.S. population.

The final aspect to look at is how hard are Americans working and how much are they making. One statistics to look at is how much people are making and how much workers productivity has increased. The Economic Policy Institute says net productivity increased 72.2% while real average hourly compensation increased 42.5% from 1973-2014 (Bivens and Mishel, 2015). If this information is accurate then that is a 29.7% gap between the two showing Americans are more productive but their compensation is not rising at the same rate. To be fair this source is a think tank to protect workers so it may be biased so for arguments sake let’s look at a think tank that is bias towards employers. According to Sherk (2013), productivity has increased 100% and compensation has increased 77% from 1973-2012. This there is still a 23% gap, which is slightly lower than the 29.7% increase from the other source. The information is still similar even if you went in the middle at 26%. What this means is that Americans are more productive than ever while their compensation is not increasing at the same rate. It also seems to disprove the idea that Americans are lazier.

Conclusion

The conclusion to this article is that Americans are working hard if not harder than in the past and are not relying too much on the government. The statistics show that pessimistic people are exaggerating when they say most Americans are lazy because they rely too much on the government. This is not to say there are no people like that because there are people like that just like in any other country in the world. There are those who would say that there are so few people that are lazy that it does not need to be fixed. It is true that it is a small percentage but it does need to be fixed because they are people who do not deserve any assistance. The solution would not be to get rid of all government programs like some say because most using those programs genuinely need it.

References

Badger, E. (2015, April 14). When work isn’t enough to keep you off welfare and food stamps. Retrieved https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/04/14/when-work-isnt-enough-to-keep-you-off-welfare-and-food-stamps/?utm_term=.bf31d040896a

Bivens, J., Mishel, L. (2015, September 2). Understanding the Historic Divergence Between Productivity and a Typical Worker’s Pay. Retrieved from http://www.epi.org/publication/understanding-the-historic-divergence-between-productivity-and-a-typical-workers-pay-why-it-matters-and-why-its-real/

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

https://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2015/cb15-97.html

http://www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi/laus/us/usadj.htm

http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/672888.pdf

Hipple, S. (2014, December). People who are not in the labor force: why aren't they working? Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-4/people-who-are-not-in-the-labor-force-why-arent-they-working.htm

Jacobson, L. (2015, January 28). Are there more welfare recipients in the U.S. than full-time workers? Retrieved from http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/jan/28/terry-jeffrey/are-there-more-welfare-recipients-us-full-time-wor/

Kertscher, T. (2014, January 20). On average, 20 to 25 cents of every $1 spent on four government assistance programs is lost to fraud, Sen. Ron Johnson says. Retrieved from http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2014/jan/20/ron-johnson/fraud-claims-20-25-cents-every-1-spent-four-govern/

Sherk, J. (2013, July 17). Productivity and Compensation: Growing Together. Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/jobs-and-labor/report/productivity-and-compensation-growing-together