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The Economy Gave Up On Young People ... It's Starting To Show

Length
20 min
Published
28 September 2026
Language
English
Text from
the audio
Transcribed
1 October 2026
Read the full transcriptOpen on Spotify
Notes in English.

Summary

This video examines the global NEET phenomenon: 262 million young people, 1 in 4 worldwide, who are not in employment, education or training. It argues the problem is structural rather than a matter of laziness, driven by the disappearance of entry level jobs, expensive degrees that deliver less, unaffordable housing in job-rich cities, and a worsening mental health cycle. Using Japan as a warning of what happens when the problem is ignored, it closes with the policies used by low-NEET countries like the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, and argues that structural problems can be fixed if there is political will.

Key points

  • 262 million young people worldwide, 1 in 4, are NEETs: not in employment, education or training.
  • Official unemployment figures miss most struggling young people because they only count those actively looking for work.
  • In Europe, only one in five NEETs are voluntarily disengaged; the other four in five are disconnected by circumstance.
  • Vulnerable NEETs tend to come from lower income families, rural areas, and have less education.
  • Entry level jobs have been eroded by automation, AI and the gig economy, while degrees cost more and deliver less.
  • Housing costs in job-rich cities keep young people stuck in low-opportunity towns or living with parents.
  • Japan's long-running NEET problem produced 1.5 million hikikomori and the 80/50 problem of elderly parents supporting middle-aged children.
  • Countries like the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark keep NEET rates low through dual education, affordable childcare, housing policy and flexicurity.

Questions it answers

00:00The scale of the problem

How big is the NEET problem?

262 million young people worldwide, 1 in 4, are NEETs, and the problem is structural rather than a laziness issue, since it skews toward people with health conditions and those in places where jobs are hardest to find.

  • 262 million young people are NEETs, 1 in 4 worldwide.
  • Youth unemployment has been falling while NEET numbers stay high.
  • The problem is concentrated among the disadvantaged, not the lazy.

01:58What unemployment figures miss

Why doesn't the unemployment rate show this?

Unemployment only counts people actively looking for work, so discouraged workers, carers, the undiagnosed ill and those in jobless towns become invisible; the NEET measure captures everyone aged 15 to 24 not working, studying or training.

  • Roughly three invisible young people exist for every counted unemployed one.
  • In 2023, 6% of young people were unemployed but 20.4% were NEET.
  • In Europe, only one in five NEETs are voluntarily disengaged.

06:56How the economy failed young people

Why is this happening now?

Entry level jobs were eroded by automation, AI and the gig economy, degrees cost more and deliver less, the post-pandemic hiring boom cooled, and housing costs in job-rich cities keep young people from moving to opportunity.

  • Employment for new workers in AI-exposed jobs fell 6% between late 2022 and mid 2025.
  • Recent US graduate unemployment now exceeds the overall rate.
  • Sydney's income needed to rent jumped from $88,000 in 2019 to $130,000 in 2025.

11:37Japan's warning

What happens if this is ignored for a generation?

Japan's decades of narrowing entry points produced 1.5 million hikikomori, 2% of people aged 15 to 39, averaging around 10 years of isolation, plus the 80/50 problem of elderly parents supporting middle-aged children.

  • Eurofound puts the cost of NEETs to Europe at 142 billion euros a year.
  • One in four Japanese people in their 20s will be NEET at least once over four years.
  • The 80/50 problem removes two people from the economy at once.

15:52Countries that got it right

What actually works to fix it?

Countries like the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark keep NEET rates low through dual education systems, affordable childcare, housing policy and flexicurity with active retraining.

  • The Netherlands has a NEET rate slightly above 5% and 90% of vocational graduates employed in 2024.
  • Denmark's flexicurity combines flexible hiring with strong safety nets and retraining.
  • Matching UK regions to the best NEET rate would add £26 billion a year.

18:39Why it hasn't been fixed

Why hasn't anyone fixed it?

The lazy generation story is easier and more politically convenient than the structural one, but structural problems, unlike lazy generations, can actually be fixed with policy.

  • The lazy framing leads to motivational policy rather than structural reform.
  • For the first time since the industrial revolution, younger generations are struggling to exceed their parents' wealth.
  • Everyone's future depends on young people working, paying taxes and supporting the old.

Notes

What a NEET is

  • NEET stands for not in employment, education or training; 262 million young people worldwide, 1 in 4, are in this category.
  • The unemployment rate only counts people actively looking for work, so it misses roughly three invisible young people for every one counted as unemployed.
  • In 2023, only 6% of young people globally were unemployed, but 20.4% were NEET.

Who NEETs actually are

  • In Europe, only one in five NEETs are voluntarily disengaged; four in five are disconnected by circumstance.
  • The share of NEETs with health conditions and disabilities nearly doubled from 86% in 2015 to 44% in 2025 (as stated in the video).
  • 1 in 5 NEET women are caring for children versus 1 in 30 young men.
  • Vulnerable NEETs tend to come from lower income families, rural areas, and have less education; in the US a quarter come from families earning under $25,000 a year.

Why it's happening

  • Entry level jobs like factory work, admin and data entry have been eroded by automation and now AI; employment for new workers in AI-exposed jobs fell 6% between late 2022 and mid 2025.
  • Degrees cost more (US average nearly $40,000 federal debt) but deliver less: recent US graduate unemployment now exceeds the overall rate.
  • Housing costs block mobility: Sydney's income needed to rent rose from $88,000 in 2019 to $130,000 in 2025; 3 in 5 US Gen Z renters are rent burdened.
  • Mental health and economic struggle feed each other in a chain that gets harder to reverse the further someone falls.

The cost and Japan's warning

  • Eurofound puts the cost of NEETs to European economies at 142 billion euros a year.
  • Japan has 1.5 million hikikomori, 2% of people aged 15 to 39, averaging around 10 years in isolation.
  • The 80/50 problem describes parents in their 80s supporting children in their 50s who never re-entered society.

What works

  • Low-NEET countries like the Netherlands (just above 5%), Sweden (6.7%) and Denmark (6.2%) use dual education systems, affordable childcare, housing policy and flexicurity.
  • In the Netherlands, 90% of recent vocational graduates were employed in 2024.
  • Matching every UK region's NEET rate to the best performing one would add £26 billion to the economy every year.

Transcribed automatically from the audio. Summary and notes written by AI from the transcript, so check anything important against the recording.

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