Young women in the UK are leaving the workforce at a much faster rate than their male peers, as soaring childcare costs, growing mental health challenges and insecure job prospects drive rising female economic inactivity.
Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics show a sharp gender split in the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). While the overall NEET figure for 16 to 24-year-olds rose by 24,000 in the three months to June 2025, this was driven almost entirely by young women.
The number of female NEETs rose by 25,000 over the period, while the number of male NEETs fell by 1,000.
Childcare and care duties pushing women out of work
Care responsibilities continue to disproportionately fall on women, with 59% of unpaid carers identified as female in the 2021 census. Rising care demands and escalating childcare costs are compounding the pressure. The UK ranks among the top five most expensive countries for childcare globally, according to the OECD, with parents typically paying 19% of their income on early years care.
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Naomi Clayton of the Institute for Employment Studies told The Telegraph that “[y]oung women are taking on care responsibilities. The cost of living crisis means the cost of childcare is going up. That can impact young women’s ability to go to work if they have children.”
Alice Martin, head of research at Lancaster University’s Work Foundation, told the paper that women living at home for longer may also be absorbing more informal domestic and care roles. “More young women are living with their parents for longer. For women, that can really entrench their gender norms; if there is care or household work to do, generally that can fall on women.”
Mental health problems on the rise
Mental health pressures are also contributing to rising economic inactivity. A 2024 NHS survey found that young women were more likely than young men to experience mental distress. The Telegraph cited research suggesting that one in 30 girls and young women have had primary contact with mental health services.
Clayton said the increase in distress appeared to be real, not just a product of greater reporting. She linked the trend in part to “socially prescribed perfectionism” and social media pressures, which evidence suggests disproportionately affect young women.
Social media users like Libby Dowler, a former NHS cleaner, have posted videos describing how burnout forced them to quit. In one widely shared clip, she said: “The reason I’m quitting is I just do not enjoy going to work any more. I’ve just had enough.”
An Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development study last year found that young women in England were among the sickest and unhappiest in Europe.
‘Hard to reach’ with support services
The article also quoted Professor Sue Maguire of the University of Bath, who explained that young women are often “hidden” in communities and more difficult to reach with support services than young men, who are often engaged through sport.
“When we were doing work for the Young Women’s Trust, it was very hard to find young women who were economically inactive as they didn’t have much contact [with support systems],” she said. “There is a hidden problem of women that do not come forward.”
While female youth economic inactivity is rising, male inactivity has trended upwards over a longer period. The number of economically inactive young men has risen from 161,000 in 2016 to 273,000 in 2025, while female figures remain below 2010 levels.
Still, the overall NEET rate is rising. Between April and June 2025, 12.8% of 16–24-year-olds were not in education, employment or training, up from 9.7% over the same period in 2021. Government data shows more than half have a physical health condition and one in six report mental health problems.
Maguire said: “We have a worldwide epidemic in young people withdrawing from society. It’s been going on for a long time.”
In a move to address the issue, skills minister Jackie Smith was recently given a joint role spanning the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education. Maguire called this a “positive step” towards early intervention and reducing the risk of long-term exclusion.
