In the last two decades the death rate has been rising dramatically among middle-aged white Americans without a college degree. Americans within this subgroup are dying much younger today than they were only a few decades ago. Rather than dying near the age of 80 of natural causes, white working-class Americans are dying prematurely between the age of 45 to 54. Furthermore the higher mortality rate of middle-aged white Americans is not being caused by heart disease, cancer, or diabetes but by an epidemic of slow death suicides through alcohol and substance abuse.
Health problems such as alcohol related liver disease, overdoses of heroin and prescription opioids are ravaging America’s white working-class communities. These premature deaths are reversing the nearly century long trend of increased life expectancy and low mortality rates of Americans whites. According to the New York Times, the mortality rate for whites 45 to 54 years old with no more than a high school education has increased by 134 deaths per 100,000 people from 1999 to 2014. Most doctors believe that the only other time premature death rates spiked to such a degree was when the HIV/AIDS epidemic hit the United States.
Another puzzling element of this epidemic is that it is affecting white communities at a much higher degree than other racial groups. Hispanics have always had lower mortality rates than whites, but the same could not be said for African Americans. Traditionally African Americans had higher mortality rates and lower life expediencies than whites, however now that gap is closing. Now poorly educated whites have become the most vulnerable group in American society.
Many sociologists have attributed deaths of despair to reduced labor force participation by working class whites. Over the last two decades, thousands of American manufacturing and assembly operations have been outsourced to low cost countries and the remaining operations have incorporated artificial intelligence and robotics as part of the workforce. The evolution of American manufacturing and assembly processes over the last two decades has made many jobs that do not require a college degree obsolete. Thus, working class whites find themselves with far fewer employment opportunities today than they did in the past.
Joan C. Williams has linked the reduced labor force participation of working class whites to their sense of identity and community belonging, which stems from their social honor. According to Williams, social honor is the foundation upon which many white working class communities are built. Williams further explains that one’s social honor is linked closely to that person’s ability to provide for their family and contribute to their community. If we take social honor to play a critical role in these communities as Williams explains, then it should not be surprising that continuous unemployment or underemployment is the source of the great social dysfunction these communities are experiencing.
Thus far the main solution presented to combat deaths of despair is to address the opioid crisis. However, if the fading of social honor is driving these deaths, then addressing the opioid crisis will not remedy the situation. Rather people will rely more heavily on alcohol and illicit drugs to escape their reality and ultimately commit suicide. Another popular solution presented to address the deaths of despair epidemic is to bring back lost manufacturing jobs. However, many of these jobs are in the process of becoming obsolete. The rise of robotics and artificial intelligence allows for the manufacturing process to be conducted with fewer human workers. Thus even if manufacturing operations return to working class communities, they will not be able to employ the same number of people they employed in the past. A possible solution may lie in adopting a European apprenticeship model to train people in working class communities for customized manufacturing operations. This model creates a high skilled work force, which can customize products to an end user’s exact specifications. The customized nature of these products would provide a greater value proposition to buyers; thus, the customized products could successfully compete with mass produced goods manufactured in automated factories.
Do you think American companies are willing to invest resources into working class communities to start European style apprenticeship models? Do you think this solution can lift white working-class families out of chronic unemployment and underemployment? And will the deaths of despair epidemic in these communities end if the economic outlook improves?
I am a little bit skeptical that the United States' willingness to implement the apprenticeship model. First, I'm not sure what you mean by customized products. But, even if the customized products could compete with mass produced goods manufactured in automated factories, if the apprenticeship model costs so much to implement and to run (at last at the outset) it seems unlikely that manufacturers will be willing to give up their machines and make the switch. Maybe I just do not fully understand how the system works.
ReplyDeleteI do sometimes wonder what it would be like to go back to an apprenticeship model for law schools (although I realize law schools aren't exactly filled with people suffering from deaths of despair). Perhaps the profession could be more affordable and therefore more attainable (and thus less prestigious??) this way. I have thought about a program where only bar classes are taught in a span of two years and the third year is spent apprenticing.
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ReplyDeleteI’m not sure about the apprenticeship model working with manufacturing jobs because as you mention, so many have become obsolete. Even these customized products are likely to become more and more mechanized overtime. However, I do think a combination of an apprenticeship model and vocational schools could be effective.
ReplyDeleteMechanics, carpenters, plumbers, electricians and landscapers all make good livings but their professions are often considered undesirable. If vocational schools had boarding facilities where students could get some of the college experience while learning their trade, it would make them more desirable. Students could enroll in two-year programs where they learn trade and business skills the first year and apprentice the second year. This could be expanded or compressed depending on the trade and its requirements.
I agree with the comment above about law schools potentially offering two years in the classroom and a one-year apprenticeship. I think that would be an interesting route for students who are particularly career oriented. It could also be attractive to low-income students if the third year offered a tuition break. Requiring low-income students to take on seven years of debt to become lawyers is a high bar for entry. In some cases, this can be over $400,000. Any avenue that can broaden access to low-income applicants should be explored.
Many countries allow students to become lawyers after the equivalent of their undergraduate careers. Overhauling our system to allow students to apply to the law school after only two or three years of undergraduate work could be another option. This plan would allow students to use their law school credits to satisfy elective undergraduate graduation requirements. Under this system, law school graduates would receive both a B.A. and a J.D. Allowing law school credits to count towards undergraduate graduation unit requirements could save the average student a year or more worth of classes. This could amount to over $50,000 in savings in some cases.
Do you think either of these are valid options?