During 2000–2016, suicide rates among American workers (aged 16–64 years) jumped 34%, from 12.9 per 100,000 population to 17.3, according to a newly published report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Increasing suicide rates in the US are a concerning trend that represents a tragedy for families and communities and impact the American workforce,” said Dr. Debra Houry, director of the CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
“Knowing who is at greater risk for suicide can help save lives through focused prevention efforts,” Houry said.
With the American workforce declining for decades, only now it this disturbing evidence of the catastrophic damage that has already been done being released.
Suicide rates are rapidly expanding in almost every state, as it now becomes the 10th leading cause of death in the US and is one of three leading reasons that are on the rise.
The CDC discovered that in recent years suicide rates were the highest among males in construction jobs and the highest for females working in arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media.
Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog analyzed recent Social Security Administration data of median yearly wages in the US. He discovered 50% of all American workers make less than $30,533 per year, which of course is not enough money to sustain a middle-class lifestyle.
“The American people are working harder than ever, and yet the middle class just continues to erode,” he said.
Snyder said the “deeper we dig into the numbers provided by the Social Security Administration, the more depressing they become.” Here are just a few examples from their official website:
- 34% of all American workers made less than $20,000 last year.
- 48% of all American workers made less than $30,000 last year.
- 59% of all American workers made less than $40,000 last year.
- 68% of all American workers made less than $50,000 last year.
In retrospect, it all makes sense as the inequality gap between the rich and poor is the largest that it has ever been since right before the 1929 crash, and America’s once-thriving middle class has been systematically eviscerated over the last thirty years.
I have warned many that the decline of industrial jobs for middle class people with adequate salaries and benefits that offer the same lifestyle and retirement that most government employees enjoy has been in massive decline since the late 1970’s and early 1980’s . At the same time the cost to purchase or save to provide benefits on your own has skyrocketed as wages are stagnent or going backwards . Wow now a government wonk survey cannot understand the depressed state of mind average people spiral into when they have been screwed by government and industry working together against the general welfare of the population . The results of alcoholism drug addiction and criminal activity and suicide increases wow anybody with a few active brain cells on jumper cables could have seen this coming .
My guess is that the difficulty of earning enough money to live comfortably is compounded by a lessening commitment to marriage (or to the committed relationship of parents, if you will). A family that can face economic hardship together in unity can make it through a period of difficulty by tightening their belt, but if she (pronoun used on purpose) feels she deserves the latest iPhone and daily Starbucks coffee and much more – and will throw away the loser who can’t provide it – then it can become unbearable, especially if she’s taking the kids. I doubt many men are killing themselves because they can’t afford a fishing boat, while many probably do because despite their Herculean efforts, their family is falling apart.
Bingo!!!! Thank you. There is the main reason
It does not pay to earn more
Then $51,000 for 2019. Unless you make over $100,000.
I’m working harder than I ever have in my life and making less. I live in a smaller town that isn’t near anything so the options are fewer here. Before the ’08 crash I was making over $40K with great benefits, now I barely scrape up $20K a year with none. The amount of shit I put up with is beyond belief. I’m surprised there aren’t more murders.
This is just more thinning the weak from the herd. Those that come through the fire will be stronger. Only the strong will survive.
The ol’ “Die Whitey, Die”
De-industrialization agreed to by our elected leaders since NAFTA have contributed to the loss of jobs / income. Full implementation of software / technology has eliminated whole job categories, my wife used to work in a print shop, her job was eliminated by software. My opinion, jobs moved to the urban centers, are technology use oriented, retraining workers makes people feel good, but is not effective policy, and overall there are less of them. This was forecasted.
Also, for the last 20 years, the Feds’ inflation target of 2% has killed the average american worker whose income has not risen, so they fall even further behind
If it was any other group than whites, it’d be called a genocide.
The important thing is that a handful of sociopaths at the executive level got their bonus this year.
“It happened 4 years ago, almost a year after the December 2001 crisis. It was a social studies class and this teacher, don’t remember if it was a he or a she, was explaining the different kinds of social pyramids. God! Now I remember more! We even had a text book with those darn, cruel pyramids! The first pyramid explained the basic society. A pyramid with two horizontal lines, dividing those on top (high social class) those in the middle (middle class) and the bottom of the pyramid (the poor, proletarian). The teacher explained that the middle of the pyramid, the middle class, acted as a cushion between the rich and the poor, taking care of the social stress. The second pyramid had a big middle section, this was the pyramid that represents 1st world countries. I which the bottom is very thin and arrows show that there is a possibility to go from low to middle class, and from middle to the top of the social pyramid. Our teacher explained that this was the classic, democratic capitalist society, and that on countries such as Europeans one, socialists, the pyramid was very similar but a little more flat, meaning that here is a big middle section, middle class, and small high and low class. There is little difference between the three of them.
The third pyramid showed the communist society. Where arrows from the low and middle class tried to reach the top but they bounced off the line. A small high society and one big low society, cushioned by a minimal middle class section of pyramid.
Then we turned the page and saw the darned fourth pyramid. This one had arrows from the middle class dropping to the low, poor class.
“What is this?” Some of us asked.
The teacher looked at us. “This is us”
“It’s the collapsed country, a country that turns into 3rd world country like in pyramid five where there is almost no middle class to speak, one huge low, poor class , and a very small, very rich, top class.””
— http://ferfal.blogspot.com/2008/10/thoughts-on-urban-survival-2005.html
What if they are just tired of being fucked by the FedGov?