In NJ there is a short supply. Those that are still around are on the older side. At our association meetings, there has been no talk of unruly parents. Some of my observations. The covid hit and canceled a season. Those that were umpiring and needed the $ found another job to pay the bills. Not many NJ teams have fields with lights. Games start at 4pm. Travel time and prep time means most umps need to be out of their other job by 2:30. For me personally, that is not possible so I do LL and Cal Rip - USABL. Those that get into other sports see a greater income / hour. A varsity level baseball game in NJ - 7 innings - often takes 2.5 hours. Part of that is the umps own fault for not managing the time between innings. Some is the talent level and walks / errors extend the game time. The sub varsity levels are now looking to have a 2 hr time limit implemented. Var level umps get $85 / game, sub var 67. Lacrosse umps in NJ get that and more for a 1 hour game. Softball - a much shorter game get the same as baseball. I hear the same holds true for other sports. Now take into consideration Uncle Sam. Many schools have moved to on line payments through one vendor. Just a few years ago - you could hide your income by not umping more than $600 worth of games at one school. Now - no matter what school you ump - the income is all managed and reported thru the vendor. Assuming a 30% tax bracket (fed + state) that $85 is now net $60. The state also charges a fee as dose the association. Then there is the unemployment benefits - the PPE and other subsidies that surrounded the pandemic. For some the cost is not worth the effort. There were also a number that chose to retire during the "off" year. I don't know that there is a quick fix to the problem or that there is one fix. Getting the young kids involved at 12 yo to do 8yo games on the bases in rec leagues, get them training before each season. As they get to 15-16 yo get them behind the plate. And for the state associations - do not have a 18yo age minimum to do games. Let a 16-17yo fo F or JV games on the bases. Let them work the lower level schools and work their way up to V and higher levels. Pair them with an experienced ump one that can evaluate and corrrect as needed.. but then you get push back from the experienced up because he / she will be on lower paid / skill games.