Young women exiting workforce faster than men

The numbers are stark. In June, the government reported that almost one million young people aged 16 to 24 are not currently in employment, education or training. And if you look closely at the data, you'll notice that this increase has been driven by women. In the three month period before June, the number of so-called "Neets" rose by 24,000; this can be broken down to a 25,000 increase in women, and a 1,000 drop in men. In total, the Office for National Statistics reports, there are now 450,000 young female "Neets" — that's the highest number recorded since 2016, almost a decade ago. So why is this figure on the rise, reversing previous trends? What is holding women back from the workplace, or prompting them to drop out quickly?

It's undeniable that the job market isn't exactly welcoming right now. "There are fewer jobs around, unemployment is rising, but then also, particularly for younger women, we are now seeing that AI is starting to reduce the number of entry level jobs as well," says Anna Hemmings, CEO of Smart Works, the charity supporting unemployed women across the UK. And any conversation about women and work must also reckon with the fact that women overwhelmingly tend to shoulder caring responsibilities, whether that is for young children or ageing family members.

But this goes part way to explain what might be happening for the young women in the NEET cohort — many who aren't yet even of an age when they are thinking about starting a family. Mental health is also a major factor — but its a much more complex picture than you might think. Data from the King's Trust shows that one in 10 Neets left employment over the past year due to mental health; more than one quarter say this has stopped them applying for jobs. The government has earmarked this as a particularly pressing issue; earlier this month, they announced that a new review, headed up by the former health secretary Alan Milburn, will examine how mental health issues and disability factor into youth unemployment.

Young women have "always been more likely than men to experience the more common mental health problems", from anxiety to depression, says Dr Lynne Green, chief clinical officer at Kooth, a digital mental health support platform. And over the past decade or so, an overwhelming array of studies have concluded that these problems are only rising and rising in this demographic. This year, the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity survey pinpointed this group as particularly at risk of suffering from a common mental health condition. Could this crisis, then, be pushing young female employees out of work? Twenty-nine year-old Megan is a Gen Z 'cusper' who opted to leave the corporate world behind in order to prioritise her mental wellbeing. She was left feeling burned out after having to grapple with the "up and down" moods of "toxic people managers who expect you to work around the clock", she says. "I was feeling guilty all the time for not working and had the goal posts moved all the time, which meant I dreaded logging in for work and gave me intense anxiety."

She is not the only one. You only have to glance at social media to hear the stories of young women who've decided to take a step back from their career after facing burnout. Caroline Hickey is a careers coach who mainly works with women in their twenties and thirties, who has seen some clients inadvertently fall into the Neet category. "I'm seeing lots of young people accidentally becoming NEETs because they'll go 'I want to go travelling, I want to have a break, I'll figure it out when I get back,'" she explains.

They may feel empowered to make these choices" and "put themselves first" is a positive, there is a risk that they may be "swap(ping) one pressure for another Caroline HickeyThis is a more "intentional" plan, she notes. But others may be making a "more emotionally driven decision" in response to "the negative experiences they're having at work". The issue with both approaches, though, is that these women are opting out for a 'breather', but potentially underestimating just how tricky it can be to return to the job market when they are ready. Hickey notes while the fact that they "feel empowered to make these choices" and "put themselves first" is a positive, there is a risk that they may be "swap[ping] one pressure for another".

It's worth bearing in mind that much of Gen Z came of age during the pandemic, and suffered the setbacks and confidence knocks that came with this. Twenty-two year-old student Asma, found that studying for her A Levels remotely during Covid "really took a toll on me mentally and physically"; she ended up withdrawing her university applications and taking two years out, all of which "affected my confidence". Since then, she has received interview support from Smart Works, which helped her secure an internship.

I think the big challenge with Gen Z is that many of them are emerging from childhoods and adolescents that have left them extremely ill-equipped for the workplace, through no real fault of their own," says Gen Z expert Chloe Combi. "The death of the Saturday and after-school job and lack of work experience opportunities have left them finding work quite alien and scary."

Combine this with the confidence gap between young women and men, with there being "comparatively less likelihood" that the former will "brazen it out or blag it in the way young men do", as Combi puts it, and you have the potential makings of "a young woman retention crisis". Social media, and the "aspiration inflation" it has encouraged, is exacerbating this, making hyper-perfectionist women assume that they're somehow failing unless they are excelling in a career that is high-powered but also feels meaningful (and let's face it, it's pretty rare to fall into a role that provides all of this when you're only on your first or second job). If you're holding yourself up against impossible standards, your mental health is only going to suffer. "There is evidence that young women and girls are more likely to engage with social media platforms generally, but also engage in a particular way," says Dr Green. "Generally speaking, [they] are more likely to compare themselves to others, pay more attention to likes, positive endorsements, and all these things are then associated with poor body image, low self-esteem, low mood."

Even accounts that aim to support students or jobseekers, or give a more honest picture, can just end up sparking anxiety. Asma tells me how she'd see social media users detailing how they'd "had to apply to over 200 internships and only got offers from two", which only painted a discouraging picture. Combi also makes the point that well-meaning but "over-pushed" discussions around imposter syndrome — the feeling that you are somehow inadequate or not "worthy" of your role, despite your track record proving the contrary - might prove counterproductive. "It's been hoisted on young women as something they should feel, even if they don't naturally, which makes them more fearful and apologetic," she says.

It's no wonder that all these competing conversations around women in the workplace might prove overwhelming. Women, Hickey suggests, are being "pulled between two ideals" - they might simultaneously feel that they should be excelling at everything, while also "decentering work" and believing it to be "not that important". They might then respond in different ways, she adds: either by leaning "fully into" one of those ideals, or "opting out entirely".