Why Young Men Are Leaving the Labor Force and How to Fix It

The job market’s boy problems are getting worse.

A new analysis of publicly available data shows that unemployment is rising among younger men, and their labor force participation is stagnating. The good news is that there are some fixes.

“Over the last year, things have gotten worse for young men,” Sara Estep, an economist at the Center for American Progress and one of the report’s authors, told Business Insider. While young men’s unemployment levels are below historical levels, “things are definitely moving in the wrong direction.”

The analysis highlights both the issues plaguing the male workforce and where men are making strides; it also illustrates where policymakers and worker organizations can step in.

Fewer men in the workforce could lead to understaffed industries and weigh on the coffers of Social Security — and the men who aren’t working might be at risk of worsening mental health and declining happiness. Funneling younger men toward secondary education and vocational school might help; so can opening up opportunities for workers with disabilities.

Vocational school and better pay for people with disabilities

The working status — or lack thereof — of younger men and men who are considered prime working-age, which is 25 to 54, has been plaguing the economy over the last few years. A Pew Research Center analysis found that, in 2021, 25-year-old men were less likely than their predecessors in older generations to work full-time and to have achieved financial independence. Young men are more likely to be living with a parent than their female peers.

But once they reach post-education age, there’s another reason men may not be participating in the workforce: disability. The average share of men ages 22 to 27 who cited disability as their reason for nonparticipation in the labor force was 4% from April to June 2025, compared to 2% among women. As the report notes, men are more likely to work in environments that lend themselves to injury; the rise in disability might also be chalked up to an aging population, long COVID, and better medical diagnostics.

Estep said that’s one place where policy could step in. Eliminating or beefing up measures like the subminimum wage, which allows employers to hire workers with disabilities at a rate below the federal minimum, could make an impact — although a Biden-era proposed rule to bring disabled workers up to the minimum wage was withdrawn in July.

“If wages are rising, that typically pulls people into the labor force that might’ve been outside of it before,” Estep said.

Some younger men might be catching on to a fresh path forward. The analysis found that young men’s enrollment in vocational schools jumped from 2022 to 2023, the highest share of young men’s enrollment since data first started being collected.

It’s unclear whether that’s part of a larger trend or a yearlong blip in the wake of a destabilizing pandemic and labor market. It might reflect Gen Z’s growing interest in the trades, especially as industries traditionally dominated by men contract and work like healthcare shows robust growth.

“I think there is still a lot to do for men in education. We’re seeing worse outcomes for men across the board and boys,” Estep said. “And so investments in early childhood, improvements to the way that men move through the educational system and track into college or a skilled trade might be something worth pursuing.”

Of course, gender disparities persist across the workforce and labor market; women still contend with wage gaps and are more likely to leave the labor force over caregiving. Estep said that addressing labor market concerns — like those of men eschewing work or women getting shortchanged on pay — is not a zero-sum game. Things like funding toward affordable, high-quality childcare that would mean women can work would also help keep the labor market staffed.

“There are plenty of ways we can grow the labor force, and we hopefully aren’t in a situation where we only can pick one thing,” she said.