U.S. low labor participation rate "social, economic disaster": experts

People visit the National Mall amid low temperatures and strong winds in Washington, D.C., the United States, Feb. 3, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Samuel Gregg, a distinguished fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, calls the situation "a social and economic disaster."

NEW YORK, March 7 (Xinhua) -- It's now common knowledge that the United States saw an unprecedented drop in labor participation at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 as health concerns, lockdowns and stimulus payments caused tens of millions to abandon or forfeit their jobs, according to a FOX Business report.

"Three years later, millions still haven't returned -- including many who quit in the middle of their prime working years -- and some economists are sounding the alarm that so many capable, would-be earners remain out of the workforce," noted the report published last week.

Samuel Gregg, a distinguished fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, tweeted, "Some Americans have stopped looking OR decided that they don't want to work OR cobbled together enough forms of welfare rather than work."

Gregg called the situation "a social and economic disaster," the report said.

According to Rachel Greszler, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a former senior economist at the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, the 20- to 24-year-old age group has had the greatest decline in employment -- particularly men in that age group -- and there is an increase in young people returning to their parents' homes.

Greszler says it's important to note that the labor participation rate was on the decline long before the pandemic, pointing out that it peaked around 2000, and among men aged 20 to 24, employment is down 10.5 percent since then.