A Washington think tank looking at long-term employment trends added discouraging data about reduced earning power for men in America. Brookings scholar Adam Looney notes, in discussing what some have dubbed a "mancession," that 1 out of 5 prime-age men are out of work today compared to the previous generation when the figure was about less than 1 in 10.

Using 1969 as a baseline, Looney–interviewed in a newly released Brookings podcast–says that today's man earns 28% less than his counterpart in 1969. Men are likely to cite as reasons for nonemployment an inability to find work, a physical disability or incarceration. "Those are all largely involuntary reasons for unemployment," Looney says.

Another finding cited by the Brookings scholar is that the premium a college degree confers on workers has increased enormously. "A college grad earns roughly double what an individual with only a high school diploma earns," says Looney, who recently compared 23-24-year-olds–some with college degrees and others high school graduates. While the college graduates have struggled to find quality jobs in the midst of the recent recession, "almost 90 percent of them have found jobs." Of those with just a high school diploma, 1 in 3 can't find a job.