Business

‘Gen Z men are facing a surprise workforce crisis’

AnyFans 2025-09-24

By Justin Klawans

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Less than $3 per week

View Profile

The Explainer

Talking Points

The Week Recommends

Newsletters

From the Magazine

The Week Junior

Food & Drink

Personal Finance

All Categories

Newsletter sign up

instant opinion

‘Gen Z men are facing a surprise workforce crisis’

Opinion, comment and editorials of the day

Newsletter sign up

The workforce gender gap ‘has all but disappeared among young men and women’

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Justin Klawans, The Week US

22 September 2025

‘Gen Z men are facing a surprise workforce crisis’
Sara Estep at MSNBC

Since the “early 2000s, the participation of young men (ages 16-24) in the American workforce has dropped precipitously,” says Sara Estep. There is “not a one-size-fits-all answer for every nonparticipant, but two main factors stand out: education and disability.” The workforce gender gap has “all but disappeared among young men and women.” But “being ‘out of the labor force’ doesn’t mean Generation Z men are all sitting on their parents’ couch playing video games.”

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

‘Immigration crackdowns could cripple America’s small businesses’
Javier Palomarez at Newsweek

Immigration has “always powered America’s economy,” says Javier Palomarez. But “recent crackdowns are weakening the industries we all depend on for growth and stability.” Immigrants “fill critical roles in construction, agriculture, manufacturing, technology, and hospitality.” When immigration “enforcement rips through their communities, small businesses, with their limited margins and flexibility, are first to feel the pain.” This “fallout is ethnicity-agnostic. When economic activity dries up, it affects all businesses, not only those owned by immigrants.”

‘Africa’s future runs on water. So treat it as essential infrastructure.’
Sareen Malik at Al Jazeera
African crises “rarely begin with politics alone. They often start with water — too little, too dirty, or unfairly shared,” says Sareen Malik. When “water fails, economies and social contracts fail, too.” Africa’s “water security is under mounting pressure from multiple directions.” Water is “not only a human right; it is the foundational infrastructure of development, influencing what is grown on the farm, what is made in the factory and what is taught in the classroom.”

‘The 25 greatest picture books of the last 25 years’
Dan Kois and Rebecca Onion at Slate
Picture books have “undergone a revolution in the past 25 years,” say Dan Kois and Rebecca Onion. The “art form is now remarkably different from what it was when we were little.” A “turn-of-the-millennium boom in animation, led by Pixar, gave rise to more illustrators making a living as storytellers — and being frustrated by the machinations of Hollywood studios forcing them to tell their own stories in a simpler, more personal form.”

Justin Klawans, The Week US

Social Links Navigation

Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.

September 22 editorial cartoons

Monday’s political cartoons include the late-night comedians purge, Disney under fire, Donald Trump’s dinner, and leeches instead of vaccines

Is duty-free shopping worth it?

the explainer
How to determine whether you are actually getting a good deal

Trump DOJ shut bribery case against ally Homan

The Justice Department closed a bribery investigation into President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan

You might also like

‘Americans want dark money out of politics. We don’t have to wait for Supreme Court.’