I talk to a lot of people in the Metro NY area. One problem here is -- if you need to commute into Manhattan (job center) -- it demands a certain salary, below which commuting in is a net-loss. Rent is $2000/mo. If you have a family and cannot have multiple roommates, you might be looking at $4000/mo.

"if you cannot afford it, stop complainingb and live elsehwere" they say...sure...but a commuter train into Manhattan can run you $30-50/day. Add in parking at the commuter train station and you're down about $60 or more a day.

Now suppose you eke out some net saving -- you've unqualified yourself from medicaid health insurance now. Your net savings may not even pay for your medical deductible.

There are a lot of reasons to just not bother unless the salary can get beyond all these hurdles.

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thegrim33 20 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Your theory is that some people don't find it financially worthwhile to work in NYC, so therefore they decide to just give up and not work and not move anywhere else and just do absolutely nothing instead?

	▲	washadjeffmad 19 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		In an economy where someone staying home to care for children or elderly parents can easily save $40-60k, I'd believe it. Homemakers aren't doing nothing, they're just not represented.
	▲	TuringNYC 5 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Not only is that my theory but that is literally the article we’re all commenting on “labor participation down” and this is one explanation based on discussions with hundreds of friends and classmates struggling with this issue.
	▲	sleepybrett 19 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		You have to work where the jobs are. Where the jobs are is expensive as fuck, AI and the economy are driving down labor costs (both actual number of salaries and the cost of those individual salaries)... but rent and other living costs are only going up.

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BeetleB 19 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> "if you cannot afford it, stop complainingb and live elsehwere" they say...sure...but a commuter train into Manhattan can run you $30-50/day. Add in parking at the commuter train station and you're down about $60 or more a day.

When people say that, I think they mean "get another job in another city that doesn't require a commute to Manhattan."

	▲	TuringNYC 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yes, there are lots of cities in the US. Most cities dont have job centers. They might have jobs at Walmart, McDonalds, etc but not jobs that pay living wages. People are rational -- they either do the math, or have witnessed the math playing out in real life. You can live in a super-low-cost city but earning minimum wage don't make ends meet. Worse, it may even put you into a threshold where you get no medical care. If you have children, it doesnt pay for rent + healthcare + child care. There is another reason people stick to major job centers -- because it is extremely risky moving to a 2nd or 3rd tier job center. You have to sign a 1yr lease on an apartment and are locked in. But your job isnt guaranteed for a year. There may be few or no other jobs in 2nd or 3rd tier job centers. Say you default on your lease -- now you have a way bigger problem because you cannot rent again (you have bad credit) and you also need to pass credit checks to get a job. https://www.nerdwallet.com/finance/learn/credit-score-employ... Ultimately we all need to realize people are rational (NOT lazy) -- people are doing the math and the math aint mathing. Hence the "Sharp Drop in Labor Force Participation"

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redwood 19 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

But New York City as a metro area is the largest conglomeration connected by low-cost mass transit in the country meaning there's a massive liquid housing market and job market ready to fingertips. So if you live in the suburbs and the commuting cost is a dilemma you can always consider moving to the city itself

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devindotcom 19 hours ago | parent [-]

your suggestion to cash strapped people who can barely afford rent is "just buy a house in new york"?

	▲	redwood 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Rent in nyc not buy... if as you describe commuting is eroding affordability of the suburbs