In this working paper, Lawrence Buron, Robert Haveman, and Owen O'Donnell examine the possible reasons for the underutilization of labor among various segments of the male work force by studying foregone hours, or the gap (in terms of hours) between the amount of time actually worked and...

The source of the increased inequality in the distribution of male earnings has been the focus of much economic analysis. In this working paper, Robert H. Haveman and Lawrence Buron attempt to find the source of the increased inequality in the distribution of male earnings since the 1970s....

Fundamental changes in labor market patterns among U.S. prime-age men over the past two decades have been the focus of numerous recent research studies and media accounts. Increases in wage inequality and in male joblessness are the most important of these changes; assertions of an increase in...

This paper documents the changes in earnings capacity poverty that occurred between 1973 and 1988. Families are 'Earnings Capacity Poor' if they are unable to generate enough income to lift them out of poverty, even if all working-age adults in the family work full-time, year round. Data from...

In this paper, we track the level of economic well-being of the population of men who began receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits in 1980–81 from the time just after they became beneficiaries (in 1982) to 1991, nearly a decade later. We present measures of the economic...