What happens when 100 million Americans are not in the labor force? More pressure is being added on the one-third of working Americans supporting two-thirds of the population.

Jon Blogosphere, Economy, Market Commentary, Socialism

It is hard to believe but we have over 92 million Americans not in the labor force. I’ve paid close attention as to how the media presents this group and they usually attribute it to older Americans retiring. The problem with this narrative is that it gives the impression that many have the means to retire and also, that many of these are older people. That is not true. Many older Americans are dropping out and fully relying on Social Security so they do not fall into a life of financial destitute. Many others including younger workers are oscillating in and out of the low wage economy. This entire shadow group which is getting close to one-third of our nation is largely discounted in the media. The unemployment rate looks fantastic because every month, we have more Americans simply being erased off the financial ledger. At this current rate, we will have 100 million Americans not in the labor force by 2020.
The race to 100 million
Whenever I tell people that one-third of working Americans are supporting two-thirds of the country they find the figure hard to believe and full of hyperbole. Unfortunately this is the reality of the current situation. We can break down the figures and get a better perspective. Math is math after all.
Here is the population broken down:

This post was published at MyBudget360 on NOV 28 2014.