In the United States, the percentage of young people aged 15–24, who are not participating in growing GDP or are obtaining the required education to do so, has been steadily rising in the last two years. Young people who are not in education, employment, or training (NEETs) now make up approximately 12% of the overall population - the highest numbers in three years. This surge signals that a significant portion of the future workforce is not contributing to or preparing for the growth of the GDP. The situation is especially dire when it comes to women.
Data shows that in the past three years, an alarming pattern of young people becoming increasingly disconnected from the economy, in every way other than consumerism, has emerged. Young women are more likely to be out of employment, education, or training than young men.
As shown in the graphic, historically, the female NEET rate has been higher than the male rate. Having contextualized the past socio-economic disparities between men and women and their effect on the present, this does not come as a surprise. According to CEPR’s research (Center for Economic and Policy Research) from 2023, not just in the United States, but globally, approximately 36 percent of young NEET women were mothers living with at least one of their children. The same research concluded that approximately, only 5 percent of NEET men had children whom they took care of. These numbers expose the burden of socio-economic responsibilities placed disproportionately on young women, directly limiting their access to employment and education.
While the decades-long trend showed a hopeful decline in the overall U.S. NEET rate, the last three years mark a regression. This trend is particularly dire among young women, whose NEET rate jumped by 0.6 percentage points (ppt.) from 2023 to 2024. In comparison, the NEET rate for young men increased by only 0.2 ppt.. These results indicate an upsetting possibility that young American women are now substantially less likely to be seeking either employment or education/training than they were just one year prior.
Addressing the rising NEET numbers requires improved economic opportunities for younger generations who are entering into the economy which has not adapted itself to the modern day. The reality of economic scarcity is discouraging educational investment for all young people: the high cost of a university degree no longer guarantees a stable, living-wage job leading to rationally foregoing the standard education and career route expected from them.
On the other hand, the steadily rising rate of NEET women in the United States, exposes a quiet, but influential cultural shift that is underway. As economic opportunity feels increasingly unattainable and daunting, the growing visibility of the traditional homemaker culture offers a seemingly viable “retreat.” Online content creators, labeled as “tradwife” influencers have experienced a substantial increase in social media following. According to AdAge’s investigation by Gillian Fellett, in March of 2024, The #tradwife hashtag amassed over 1.1 billion views on TikTok in one month, highlighting its significant cultural traction.
This combination of a genuine lack of stable economic prospects coupled with the emergence of a traditional gender roles subculture have outlined the socio-economic conditions behind the rise of NEET youth in the United States. With young women choosing to withdraw their candidacy from public life, the future is disproportionately in the hands of men - a predicament painfully familiar throughout history.