Perpetual Students

[Jonathan Whatley]

Let's really think about the population of people in the United States aged about 30 or above, who haven't held a job in 10 years, not conventionally retired, not incarcerated.

I see very many people doing unpaid work at home and in the community: homemakers, caregivers to children and elders, volunteers, definitional edge cases where they're working for a family business like a farm. I very many people with apparent disabilities or serious illnesses, and many others with subtle ones, such as mental health or neurodevelopmental. Some people lucky to survive overwhelming difficult situations such as homelessness or abuse, for whom it's hard to make the next step up. Some people with criminal records they've legitimately turned a corner and rehabilitated from, for whom it's hard to make the next step up.

And yes, some people who could readily get work but are lazy. But they aren't representative of the group.