Gen Z women are the new face of unemployment—and it’s not because they’re too choosy. Low grades and bad health are to blame, new research warns

Millions of workers are bracing for AI layoffs and restructurings. But a growing slice of Gen Z isn’t even making it onto the corporate ladder in the first place—and increasingly, they’re young women.

PwC’s new Women in Work Index, which digs into Labour Force Survey data on 16‑ to 24‑year‑olds between 2020 and 2024, shows that around 1 million young people in the U.K. are now classed as NEET (not in education, employment, or training). 

Female unemployment has been drifting down since the mid‑2010s (aside from the Covid spike), but that progress is now reversing. In 2024, the jobless rate for young women jumped from 9.5% to 11.8%—the fastest annual rise since PwC’s index began. 

And in the latest ONS figures, released last month, the overall NEET rate ticked up to 12.8%, driven almost entirely by women: While the number of young men locked out of work actually went down quarter‑on‑quarter, 13,000 new women found themselves out of the job market.

While young men still slightly outnumber young women overall, the numbers are starting to skew female. In other words: the gap is closing—and fast.​ 

A sudden shift in unemployment: Why are young women being left behind?

Just two years ago, young men dominated the NEET data. When Fortune first covered the trend in 2024, one in five men under the age of 25 was unemployed—and not actively looking for........

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