Newsweek: Number of U.S. NEETs grows due to COVID

 

Newsweek magazine reports that the number of young Americans employed or in education has increased massively since the state of the COVID pandemic. 

For one, the idea that they're all rejecting college because entry-level jobs pay much more than they used to turns out to be something of a myth: Bogged down perhaps by a pandemic malaise, as many as one in six young adults ages 18 to 24 are neither in school nor working, according to an analysis for Newsweek by Lightcast, a data-driven labor market consulting firm. In other words, they're doing...nothing.

Disconnected from the mainstream economy, these young adults risk staying unemployed and under-educated, struggling to catch up with their peers. "People who are not working nor in school are potentially missing out on some really formative skill building years," says Lightcast senior economist Layla O'Kane. Studies suggest these young people may face lifelong consequences, including lower wages throughout their careers, higher risk of unemployment and greater odds of poor health. 

Likely fearmongering over COVID had a big part in it.  Young people were told over and over again that the world was ending and that they were super-spreaders (both untrue).  Under those circumstances, who would be motivated to start a career, train for many years for a job, or start a business.