Why do people not want to work?

[MossRoad]

I and some of my co-workers pondered this question a few years ago (more than 10 years now) and spent some time figuring out what kind of income a person would have to make to offset the welfare benefits. It turned out to be a little over $40k. At that time a Computer Software engineer with a several years of experience was making about $60k. Welfare provided so many benefits that it was not economical to even try to get off welfare. Bottom line: The incentive as provided by the government is to not do anything to risk losing the welfare benefits, since the alternative is to work hard for less than welfare will provide.

About 10 years ago we did a similar study at my employer. It was something like $34K in benefits were available to a single head of household (male or female) with 3 children. You'd have to find a job making $17 an hour in order to break even on the benefits, and that would consume 2000 hours of your time. Why would anyone with a lick of sense work 2000 hours a year to break even on something they could get for free?

It's better to keep a separate address from your old lady, you work, and she stays home with your kids. Then she's bringing in $34K in benefits plus your $34K a year salary, and just like that, you're making $68K per year, your woman is home with the kids, dinner's on the table and life's good.

Welcome to Indiana. :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

THIS^^ Broken homes (divorce) is killing the American family.. Kids don't know how to act and it just snowballs.. The 80s crack babies have kids on meth today..
Schools, the GOV and we the American citizens allow wrong doing and garbage into this country..

You're statement doesn't match the facts....

 

[Agvg]

You must have a very good wellfare state, here you can't live separate on paper and still live together if one has wellfare as a single mother or father, you can get the police on the door and they will search your house for any evidence that you are not living alone. If you live on wellfare the state owns you

 

[Thomas]

That question been around for decades but at larger scale today.

 

[jaxs]

The point is quite simple, people that get rich by them selves must have the right personality, you must be smart, not always as in high IQ but business smart. Equal possibilities for all are one of the lies young people hear all the time and that makes a lot of stress and destroys the self esteem as many never achieve what they hope for and are hit the wall before they are 20 years old. But I see that it's difficult to give people a realistic feedback on skills and IQ.

Speaking for myself,I recconize that people have different views but I'm still confused. The title of this thread is "Why do people not want to work". Why all people fail to realize equal success isn't being questioned. In a nutshell,are you saying a large segment of any population have inborn inability to work toward realizing their potential? Or are you saying that goals are not worth working for unless supreme goals are within reach? Would you tell an aspiring athlete although they might be good enough to turn pro,they may as well stop practicing because they aren't guaranteed being another Wayane Gretzky or Babe Didrikson Zaharias?

 

[Agvg]

If they had known what potensial they have, many work so hard trying to become something that they are unable to reach, and it ends up in depression and extreme stress reaction, but it's an answer to the idea that hard work will get you success. And the goal must be work as little as you can and still get the work done, nobody wants a dysfunctional work system where hour spent on work counts more than what is produced.

 

[drssg]

One guy told me a while back he has it figured out, he said "everybody that wants to work already has a job".

Unemployment is currently around 3%. I think it’s safe to assume that at least 3% of the eligible workforce is lazy. I suspect your friend is right.

 

[Agvg]

Unemployment is currently around 3%. I think it’s safe to assume that at least 3% of the eligible workforce is lazy. I suspect your friend is right.

And how many of those 3 % does anybody want to hire even if they wanted work? You will find many people that are sick, have sosial issues or have reading/writing problems etc. The solution is to move good people up and automate away jobs that are easy to automate.

 

[1010]

You're statement doesn't match the facts....

haha a graph!! can't be wrong.. Just look around at the kids with single parents and divorced parents. I don't need a graph for that.

 

[Cat_Driver]

I was wondering what happened to people. I know people in a lot of trades, some skilled, some not and they are all having trouble finding good help. One guy told me a while back he has it figured out, he said "everybody that wants to work already has a job". I was just wondering what people think is going on these days. I know people who can work that don't. I know people who have been fired from 5 jobs the past year. It's crazy. I've been working in the same machine shop for 24 years with just a high school diploma, you don't have to have a college education to have a good job.

Think about it, why work when you can sit around all day play vido games and get free money from the government. This is hiuman nature. This is why Socialism died when the Pilgrams landed. The person that didn't work got the same as the person who worked the fields 14 hours a day.

The kids today, and when I say today I mean for the last 30 years want the money but don't want to do the work.

I remember when I started my business 30 years ago. I think Min wage was $5.00 and hour so I paid my workers a little more around $7.50 an hour. Well I had this guy coem to me and demand I pay him $25.00 an hour.

I aksed him to follow me into the shop. As we arrived into the shop I called two other employes over and asked them to pick up a heavy crate ( around 100 pounds ) which they did with no problem and carried it where I wanted them to.

Now I asked the employee that wanted $25.00 and hour to do the same. He looked at me and said it was impossible. I said I agree that's why I can hire two people at $7.50 an hour and get more work done that paying you $25.00 and hour. He never asked for more money again after that.

Then there was the other employees that always wanted to "be my partner" and earn as much as me because they worked so long for me. Never mind they didn't invest a dime in the company, never mind they didn't eat rice and beans for a year like I did as I invested everyting back into the company. Neve mind they they didn't put in teh decades of experience as I did, they just figured they were owed a partneship in my company.

In 30 years of business and hundreds of employees coming and going I know of only two that were great workers who did their job or more. All the others were always caught by me slacking, smoking in a hidy hole, never around when the real work was being done. I always had to have more staff on to make up for the slackers.