(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) A growing group of young adults in America is opting out of the workforce altogether as Americans become increasingly demoralized by President Joe Biden’s economy, NBC reported.
Specifically, these demoralized youths are choosing to avoid work altogether, while also pursuing no training that would help them achieve employment. In short, they are unemployed and not pursuing eligibility in any way.
Such persons have been called “NEETs,” which stands for “not in employment, education or training.”
Among those of the age range 15-24, 11.2% are considered NEETs, according to statistics released by the United Nations’ International Labour Organization.
Alí Bustamante, a labor economist and director of the Worker Power and Economic Security program at the leftist Roosevelt Institute, claimed that young people’s feelings have been hurt by the labor market.
These NEETs feel that they are “being left out and left behind in many ways,” Bustamante said. “We should be expecting these rates to be lower.”
But there are more disturbing indications if one takes a longer look at the situation. According to Julia Pollak, a labor economist at ZipRecruiter, this class of NEETs is primarily composed of young men.
“The NEET trend is mostly a male phenomenon,” she said, not specifying how she was able to ascertain the genders of those impacted without asking them.
Regardless, the trend is due, in large part, to a decline in traditionally blue-collar, male-dominated positions, along with the rise of more clerical, office-oriented jobs.
It is unclear how the Biden administration’s open-border policies have impacted the statistics. On one hand, illegal immigrants may be claiming many of the unskilled labor jobs that would typically go to men in the 15-24 age range without college degrees.
On the other hand, the fact that many illegals are unaccompanied young males raises the question as to whether they, themselves, may be adding to the unemployment totals, exploiting America’s overly generous welfare system for free food, housing, medical care and other provisions.
Those who do pursue higher education may also be confronted by bleaker prospects for gainful employment than in previous generations.
Pollak suggested that the opportunities for men were declining as “women’s enrollment in schooling, education outcomes, and employment outcomes have mostly trended upwards.”
While the nation’s overall unemployment rate is still hovering below 4%—perhaps driven by those working multiple jobs or forgoing retirement due to the high costs of Bidenflation—those who are unemployed are staying unemployed for a longer time, with those unemployed for six months or more up by 21%.
