As alluded to when we learned that U.S. prison populations are poised for their first-ever drop, it seems that this Great Recession has been accompanied by a counter-intuitive drop in crime rates.

With more people out of work, why wouldn’t at least a small percentage get desperate enough to turn to criminal activities? There are some interesting theories:

Another possible factor is that with more people home from work, it is harder for burglars to break into a home or apartment unnoticed by neighbors, [University of Missouri-St. Louis sociologist Richard] Rosenfeld said.

So downsized idleness helps the neighborhood watch? Conversely, that would mean that all those workaholic habits, which led to long hours of empty household, contributed to previous high-crime rates. So we might not be making any money, but at least the dwindling amount we still have is safe from thievery.