The rising unemployment rate among U.S. workers aged 16 to 24 — it hit 10.5% in August, its highest level in a decade not counting the pandemic years — has added to the worry about the crisis of “disconnected youth,” also known as the NEETs: individuals Not Employed, Enrolled or in Training.

In 2024, 12% of 16- to 24-year-olds were NEET, and they’ve quickly become fodder in the economic culture wars. Some claim NEETs are a male problem. Others say the increase in NEETs is related to the rise in AI adoption (with the companion claim that AI is taking jobs from young workers). Still others say NEETs are the result of a failing system of higher education. And there are those who want to reclaim and destigmatize the term itself.

These speculative diagnoses are a distraction. Economic researc

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