Barriers to Work: A Recent BPC-Artemis Survey of Non-working Americans and the Need for Paid Family and Medical Leave

Amidst an uncertain economy in which many employers are struggling to fill open positions, employee recruitment and retention remain a top priority. Despite recent gains in labor force participation and near record-low unemployment, nearly 20% of prime-age adults—approximately 24 million Americans—continue to not work, impacting labor productivity and economic growth. Given this large population, experts continue to explore the multi-faceted factors keeping prime-age adults on the sidelines, while lawmakers prioritize solutions to incentivize labor force participation.

A new BPC—Artemis Strategy Group poll reveals that most prime-age, non-working Americans face significant caregiving and health-related barriers to joining the labor market. Those not currently looking for work have often been out of the workforce for multiple years, and they struggle to find suitable solutions for juggling employment with caregiving or health needs. Of the several workplace benefits and flexibilities surveyed among non-working adults, paid family and medical leave emerged as crucial for many of them to begin or return to work.

Highlights

• 72% of prime-age adults who are not in the labor force say that personal health or family caregiving are the main reasons they are not working.
• When compared to a wide range of potential workplace benefits, prime-age adults who are not in the labor force say that paid family and medical leave is about as important as compensation when considering starting or returning to work.
• Of prime-age adults not in the labor force due to reasons related to caring for children, 39% say they likely would have continued to work in their last job if they had paid parental leave. Meanwhile, 45% say they would be more likely to start or return to work if a future employer offered paid parental leave.
• Of prime-age adults not in the labor force because they are caring for other family members, 46% say they likely would have continued to work in their last job if they had paid family caregiving leave. Similarly, 47% say they would be more likely to start or return to work if their future employer-provided paid family caregiving leave.

Key Terms

• Out of the labor force (or out of the workforce): Non-working people who are not looking for work.
• Unemployed: Non-working people who are looking for work.

Top Takeaways

1. Relative to unemployed workers, prime-age adults out of the labor force face long-term barriers to employment, with few near-term plans to join the workforce.

• 44% of those not in the labor force say they have never held a job for more than three months.
• 42% of prime-age adults who are not in the labor force (but have previously held a job in the past) report having worked in the last two years, compared to 74% of those who are unemployed.
  • Notably, 36% of those not in the labor force say they have not worked for at least five years, likely facing long-term barriers to returning to work or are financially supported by a spouse/partner.
• Only 15% of prime-age adults who are out of the labor force expect to return to work within the next year, compared to 78% of their unemployed counterparts.
• Just over a third (36%) of prime-age adults not in the labor force do not plan to join the workforce in the future, while another 26% do not know whether they expect to enter the labor market.
  • Men (42%) are more likely to say they do not plan to work in the future compared to women (33%). Given that men are also more likely to cite a personal health concern as the reason they are not working, many of them may not see work as a viable option in the future.
  • Alternatively, women are slightly more likely than men to say they would enter the labor force in the next 1 to 2 years (14% and 7%, respectively) or 3 to 5 years (11% and 4%, respectively), potentially reflecting the differing needs of caring for children compared to a long-term health issue.

2. Caring for children and personal health issues are the leading reasons keeping prime-age adults out of the labor force, while difficulty finding work is the main reason unemployed adults are not working.

• 72% of prime-age adults who are not in the labor force say that their main reasons are either caregiving or personal health issues.
  • 37% say that caring for children (33%) or other family members (3%) is the main reason they are not working.
    • 48% of women say that caring for children is their main reason for not working compared to 5% of men.
    • Among those not in the labor force, 82% of those with children under 6 and 91% of those with children under 2 say they are not working because they are caring for children.
  • Another 35% say the main reason for not working is their own physical health (34%) or mental, emotional, and behavioral health reasons (1%).
    • More men (57%) said a personal health issue was the main reason they were not working compared to 25% of women.
    • Black adults (48%) were also more likely to cite personal health compared to their Hispanic (35%), white (33%), and other race (30%) counterparts.
  • Only 3% of prime-age adults who are not in the labor force cite difficulty finding work as the main reason they are not employed. By comparison, difficulty finding work is the leading reason that prime-age unemployed adults (38%) reported they are not working.

3. Multiple, overlapping factors influence prime-age adults in ways that prevent them from working, with those who are not in the labor force emphasizing personal health challenges and family caregiving.

• 64% of prime-age adults who are out of the labor force say that physical, mental, and behavioral health issues are factors preventing them from working.
  • 49% of prime-age adults not in the labor force specifically cite a physical medical condition (illness, disability, or injury), with 40% saying it is a major factor preventing them from working.
• 54% of prime-age adults who are out of the labor force say that caring for family members, including children and adults, is preventing them from working.
  • Two-thirds (67%) of those with children under 6 cite caring for children as a factor preventing them entering the labor force.
  • Likewise, nearly three-quarters (74%) of those with children under 2 cite caring for children as a factor. 

4. Prime-age adults who are out of the labor force say that solutions that enable them to continue to attend to their family and health needs are vital to enter employment or return to work. Paid family and medical leave emerged as a leading benefit that would boost workforce participation among prime-age adults.

• Paid family and medical leave is virtually equivalent to compensation in supporting work among prime-age adults.
  • When comparing a wide range of benefits and workplace characteristics including retirement benefits, distance from the workplace, compensation, among others, 15% of those not in the labor force ranked paid family and medical leave as the single most important benefit when considering entering the workforce, nearly equivalent with compensation (16%).
  • Another 19% of prime-age adults not in the labor force say that flexible work arrangements, including flexible scheduling and/or the ability to work from home, is their most important factor when considering entering the workforce.
• Of the many prime-age adults who are out of the labor force because of caregiving or health reasons, many say that paid family and medical leave would both have enabled them to stay in their last job and increase their ability to enter the workforce.
  • Parental leave: Of those not in the labor force due to reasons related to caring for children, 39% say they likely would have continued to work in their previous job if they had paid parental leave. Meanwhile, 45% say they would be more likely to start or return to work if a future employer offered paid parental leave.
    • 57% of those ages 20-24 say they likely would have continued to work if paid parental leave were available in their last job, and 50% say they would be more likely to start or return to work if a future employer offered the benefit.
  • Family caregiving leave: Of those who are not in the labor force because they are caring for other family members, 46% say they likely would have continued to work in their last job if they had paid family caregiving leave. Similarly, 47% say they would be more likely to start or return to work if their future employer-provided paid family caregiving leave.
    • 61% of those with children under 6 say they likely would have continued to work if paid family caregiving leave were available in their last job, and 62% say they would be more likely to start or return to work if a future employer offered the benefit.
  • Paid personal medical leave: 33% of those not in the labor force due to personal health issues say they likely would have continued working in their last job if they had paid personal medical leave or disability insurance. 37% say they would be more likely to start or return to work if a future employer-provided paid leave for personal medical reasons.
    • 42% of those ages 20-24 say they likely would have continued to work if paid personal medical leave were available at their previous job, and 47% say they would be more likely to start or return to work if a future employer offered the benefit.

5. For many non-workers, access to benefits alone is not enough: Job protection—the ability for those who take family and medical leave to return to their job—is an important factor for those considering entering or returning to the workforce. 

• Job protection would help prime-age adults return to work. 62% of those out of the workforce say that job protection is a factor in their decision to work, including 42% who say it is a major factor. Meanwhile, 72% of unemployed workers say that job protection is a factor in their decision to start or return to work, including 46% who say it is a major factor.
• Lack of job protection was a major factor for one-quarter (25%) of unemployed and one-fifth (20%) of those out of the labor force in their decisions to leave their previous job.
• Notably, among adults not in the labor force with children under 6, 58% said it would be a major factor in their decision to enter the workforce, compared to 36% of those adults without children under 6. Similarly, adults not in the labor force with children under the age of 18 (49%) said it would be a major factor compared to those without children under 18 (35%).

Methodology

Artemis Strategy Group surveyed a national sample of 2,165 non-working U.S. adults, ages 20-54 (excluding full-time students ages 20-24) to understand the potential barriers to entering the workforce. The national sample included 539 non-working adults who are looking for work (often labeled as unemployed) and 1,626 non-working adults who are not looking for work (often labeled as not in the labor force). The latter category represents 85% of prime-age non-working Americans. This subtle distinction enabled BPC and Artemis to evaluate and compare two very different populations. The 539 adults who were unemployed and looking for work included an oversample of 252 individuals (relative to their proportion of the non-working prime-age population). Notably, the traditional economic definition of “prime-age” includes those ages 25-54. For this survey, however, BPC and Artemis use a slightly revised definition of “prime-age” that also includes non-working adults ages 20-24 who are not full-time students. This population accounts for 10% of the sample in this survey and is often made up of parents with very young children. The survey was conducted from July 14-26, 2023. In a few instances, figures may not add to reported sums due to rounding.