The silent crisis fewer young men in work as UK jobs market shifts

For Alfie, aged 24, the search for employment has at times felt fruitless. Job descriptions increasingly list a full driving licence as essential, even for positions with no clear expectation of travelling, a barrier Alfie cannot overcome while prescribed medication precludes him from driving. This is one among many obstacles he and an estimated half a million young men face as they linger outside education, employment, or training across the United Kingdom. Alfie only recently secured his first part-time role in London’s creative sector, while many of his peers remain adrift.

Data from the Office for National Statistics demonstrates a mounting concern: the male employment rate stood at 77.9 per cent in the three months to August, falling markedly from 80.1 per cent during the same period in 2019. The situation for women is notably different, with their employment rate, albeit lower at 72.4 per cent, having bounced back to pre-pandemic levels. Male unemployment meanwhile has crept up to 5.1 per cent for the same period. These negative trends impact young men most acutely, compounded by structural changes in the economy and the lingering aftermath of the pandemic.

The United Kingdom saw the loss of roughly 170,000 manufacturing jobs between 2019 and 2021, nearly 6 per cent of the sector disappearing in just two years. In the 1970s, manufacturing accounted for upwards of 30 per cent of all jobs; that figure dipped below 10 per cent by 2021. Economic transformation towards service sectors such as health, education, and public administration—fields largely dominated by women—has left many men struggling to find roles which match their skills and backgrounds.

The number of young men identified as Neet—not in education, employment or training—now stands at 497,000, demonstrating the gravity of the problem. Factors like exam results and interruptions to education remain a significant hindrance for jobseekers who, like Alfie, faced health challenges during school years and now feel deprived of a real second chance. Government schemes such as the newly announced youth guarantee, which promises mandatory paid work for young Universal Credit recipients who have been out of work for 18 months or more, are expected to benefit only a fraction of those in need.

Long-term sickness also plays a substantial role, with 1.33 million working-age men officially economically inactive due to health complications—the highest since records began in 1993. Many in this group desire work but encounter unaddressed barriers to re-entry, exacerbated by insufficient access to targeted employment support.

As these structural and individual factors combine, policymakers face the challenge of reigniting male employment amid a shifting economic landscape. With fewer people in work, tax burdens increase on those still earning, further complicating efforts to restore balance. The government signals a shift towards investment in skills, modern jobcentres, and focused initiatives to help men rejoin the workforce, but lasting solutions will depend on overcoming both sectoral decline and personal adversity.