In 2024, 12% of 16- to 24-year-olds were “disconnected youth,” also known as the “NEETs”: people “Not Employed, Enrolled or in Training.” Some claim they are a male problem, others that AI is taking their jobs, and others that they are the result of a failing system of higher education.

These speculative diagnoses are a distraction. Economic research long ago established where NEETs come from. The question is why America fails to help them.

Out of the labor market

There are three primary reasons why a working-age adult — young or old — would be out of the labor force and not in some kind of educational or training program: They are discouraged by the labor market, have some kind of disability, or are a caregiver. These reasons suggest that the highest rates of NEET youth would be among

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