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Old 09-11-2017, 08:13 AM
whell whell is offline
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Opioid addiction reason for lower workforce participation?

So, in posts during the last year or two we've debated the reason that the U6 workforce participation number was rising. Here's a reason that I'm pretty sure we didn't discuss:

The nearly fourfold increase in opioid prescriptions from 1999 to 2015 could account for 20 percent of the overall decline of men in the U.S. workforce during that time period, according to the report, “Where Have All the Workers Gone? An Inquiry into the Decline of the U.S. Labor Force Participation Rate,” by Princeton University economist Alan B. Krueger.

In 2015 alone, the opioid and prescription painkiller addiction epidemic resulted in 33,000 American deaths, particularly impacting rural areas in the Northeast, Appalachia, and the Midwest, according to the report.

“Labor force participation has fallen more in areas where relatively more opioid pain medication is prescribed, causing the problem of depressed labor force participation and the opioid crisis to become intertwined,” Krueger writes.
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Old 09-11-2017, 08:20 AM
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BlueStreak BlueStreak is offline
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I see you're still an ass.
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Old 09-11-2017, 09:01 AM
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finnbow finnbow is offline
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I've read that it is definitely an issue because in certain parts of the country, employers who demand pre-employment drug screening are having a hell of a time finding clean, qualified candidates. In many cases, the only clean & qualified people are immigrants.
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Old 09-11-2017, 10:15 AM
whell whell is offline
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Originally Posted by BlueStreak View Post
I see you're still an ass.
...and you're still a schmuck. Now that we've got that cleared up, care to make a substantive comment to this thread?
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Old 09-11-2017, 10:21 AM
whell whell is offline
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Originally Posted by finnbow View Post
I've read that it is definitely an issue because in certain parts of the country, employers who demand pre-employment drug screening are having a hell of a time finding clean, qualified candidates. In many cases, the only clean & qualified people are immigrants.
It's amazing to me that this could account for a "20% overall decline". Here in MI, where the opioid addiction issue is supposedly among the worst, we've seen an improving labor participation rate.

http://spartanideas.msu.edu/2017/04/...united-states/

Have to wonder how accurate this suggestion is.
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Old 09-11-2017, 11:10 AM
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icenine icenine is offline
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Perhaps the lower workforce participation is causing the opioid crisis.

The real culprit may have been Big Pharma pushing Oxycontin into clinics all across America for profit reasons; there is evidence that many opioid users got hooked on Oxycontin first and then moved over to dirt cheap heroin from Mexico once the former drug became too expensive and/or unavailable.

http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-oxycontin-part2/
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Old 09-11-2017, 11:14 AM
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finnbow finnbow is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whell View Post
It's amazing to me that this could account for a "20% overall decline". Here in MI, where the opioid addiction issue is supposedly among the worst, we've seen an improving labor participation rate.

http://spartanideas.msu.edu/2017/04/...united-states/

Have to wonder how accurate this suggestion is.
In most metro areas of the US, if you are willing to get an education or training, stay off drugs, show up at work reliably, and are willing to go to where the work is, there is ample work. But many white working class, as well as inner-city residents, aren't willing to do these things that would provide them gainful employment.
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Old 09-11-2017, 02:06 PM
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barbara barbara is offline
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I've been trying to fill four positions and have had about seven or eight recruitments so far.
No one can pass the drug test.

Others in my department have the same problem.
I offer no suggestion as to why this is. I just know that is the experience I and others in my department have had.
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Old 09-11-2017, 02:12 PM
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Why the prescriptions, and how is this not a self inflicted problem if they aren't necessary?
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Old 09-11-2017, 03:38 PM
Chicks Chicks is offline
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Originally Posted by Pio1980 View Post
Why the prescriptions, and how is this not a self inflicted problem if they aren't necessary?
One of the few things Rush Limbaugh has first hand experience with. I wonder if he ever discusses it with his idiot listeners, many of whom surely are among the afflicted? He could actually do some good for a change!
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