Male boomers led surprisingly unstable work lives

+ how cells talk to each another US Edition - Today's top story: The myth of men's full-time employment [View in browser]( US Edition | 8 February 2024 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Top headlines - [The benefits of anger and anxiety]( - [A Super Bowl betting bonanza]( - [Russia weaponizes antisemitism]( Lead story The traditional family and the traditional division of labor: We know it when we see it, right? A male breadwinner brings home the bacon, while a wife does unpaid housework. It’s an image Americans know all too well from classic TV shows, and one they often judge real-world trends against. “The Simpsons” is one such traditional TV family, helmed by Homer and his stay-at-home wife, Marge. In a 2020 Atlantic article that’s been making the rounds lately, the author argues that the Simpsons’ life “is no longer attainable,” lamenting that a modern Homer couldn’t provide for his family on a single nuclear inspector’s salary. But was that standard – at least the part about men having stable employment – ever based in reality in the first place? Penn State University’s Sarah Damaske and Ohio University’s Adrianne Frech studied more than 4,500 male baby boomers over more than 25 years and found that [fewer than half were employed the entire time](. Stints of unemployment were common. It turns out men’s working lives are more complicated than people thought − and have been for some time. Also, we have published [several articles outlining the issues at stake]( in today’s Supreme Court oral arguments over whether Donald Trump can be banned from the Colorado ballot, and we have lined up two legal scholars to watch the hearing and provide their analysis later today. [ [Miss us on Sundays? Get a selection of our best and most popular stories (or try our other weekly emails).]([]]( Tracy Walsh Economy + Business Editor He’s not alone. 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