[citation needed]
Now, they're almost certainly including the millions of people with chronic diseases that do not have overt symptoms, such as hyperlipidemia and early-stage hypertension.
I'm not sure the percent on disability would be much more relevant, considering that the majority of recent college grads taking time off for lyme disease or whatever aren't collecting disability.
"I would also bet my lunch that the numbers are heavily skewed towards older demographics."
60% of those with chronic illnesses are between 18 and 64 according to this: Chronic Care in America: A 21st Century Challenge, a study of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation & Partnership for Solutions: Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD for the Robert
(I misread the Wikipedia article, which is why I said 60% of Americans had chronic illnesses instead of the actual close to 1 in 2 stat. My bad.)
Anyway my point was just that there are an enormous number of reasons why a person might appear to be not doing anything for a while.
I mean if 50% has a chronic illness but in the 1950's 45% had them, then only the 5% increase can be used as an argument, which then holds a lot less weight.
How has this number changed since, say, 2007?
I mention 2007 because a lot more people were employed then. How has their ability to work changed since then?
Because someone else is taking care of him (parents, the government, etc...)