The share of American men in the labor force reached a record low in March, fueled by baby-boomer retirees and young men who are dropping out to study or because they are disabled or sick. (The only time it has been lower was during the first two months of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.)
A new labor market report out Friday will show whether the trend continued in April, but Labor Department data from March showed that 1 in 3 men across the United States are not working or looking for a job.
The labor market has weakened since early 2025, with most job opportunities concentrated in areas typically dominated by women, including health care and private education. At the same time, several male-dominated industries, including manufacturing, transportation and mining have shed jobs, leaving a mismatch between typical skill sets and job opportunities for men.
“It’s not all retirement and education. … There are guys just dropping off the planet. They’re not looking after their kids. They’re not in school. They’re not in the labor force,” said Betsey Stevenson, a professor of economics at the University of Michigan. “Across the board when we look at men, we see challenges that they face that leave too many men disconnected.”
The downward turn in 2026 deepens a decades-long slide for men’s participation in the workforce. Among men 16 years and older, 67 percent were working or looking for a job in March, down from 73.6 percent two decades earlier.
For years, men in their prime working years, ages 25 through 54, contributed steadily to the decline. But this more recent drop is being fueled by older men who are retiring and young men who are disabled or in school — reasons that economists point out are not all causes for concern.
In March last year, Marko Dolan, 57, of Rockville, Maryland, resigned from his civil service job because of the Trump administration’s overhaul of the federal government. He was distraught by the dismantling of his foreign aid work. Plus, he qualified for supplemental income because of his age.
A year later, Dolan has reignited old friendships, gotten into better shape and cares for his disabled daughter, he said. But he remains unemployed and uncertain about future work.
“I don’t see myself as retired, but I find it hard to pivot,” Dolan said. “Maybe I can teach. I’m coming around to that, but I was numb for a long time. I really believed in what I did.”
The disappearance of men from the workforce has raised red flags for some economists and policymakers. A variety of headwinds — immigration restrictions, aging and low birth rates — are rapidly narrowing the availability of workers in the U.S., which could dampen future consumer spending, tax revenue and economic growth, they say.
Men’s participation in the workforce has also fueled anxiety among policymakers and politicians across the political spectrum, from Vice President JD Vance to California Gov. Gavin Newsom. In March, Newsom (D) convened national leaders in Sacramento to “tackle rising loneliness, disconnection, and lack of opportunity among boys and young men.”
The Trump administration, in particular, has touted its work to create jobs for U.S.-born workers.
“President Trump and his entire Administration are focused on unleashing economic opportunity for every American,” Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, said in response to a request for comment about men’s declining participation. “Thanks to the President’s proven economic policies, prime-age male labor force participation and employment are both stronger now than under Biden.”
A White House official also said that participation of men ages 25 to 64 in the workforce is at nearly 90 percent and that unemployment for men remains low and stable.
Men who are out of the workforce are increasingly likely to have never married and to live with their parents, a Washington Post analysis of Current Population Survey data found.
“It’s much more than a dollars-and-cents issue. Work is a service to others that helps to complete you,” said Nicholas Eberstadt, the conservative author of “Men Without Work.” “When you’re disconnected from work, when you are disconnected from a family, when you’re disconnected from faith, when you’re disconnected from your community, people tend to suffer.”
The share of men without college degrees who are not in the labor force has edged up over the past few years, the Post analysis showed.
Andy Breedlove, 51, of Griffithsville, West Virginia, didn’t go to college and last worked as a manager at a gas station in 2018. A bone condition made it too difficult to stand on his feet for hours, pulling him out of work. He now lives with and cares for his elderly mother on $998 per month in government assistance.
“If me and my mom weren’t living together, I would have a really hard time living a life,” said Breedlove. “But I’d much rather be working. I’d make a lot more money.”
The broader shift toward a service-based economy has also hurt men, economists say. Between January 2025 and March 2026, the U.S. economy created 369,000 jobs — of which 94 percent went to women and 6 percent went to men, an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data by the University of Michigan’s Stevenson shows. That’s partly because new jobs added to the U.S. economy during that period were in health care or private education. Men often shy away from jobs in those industries because of their lower pay and status, economists say.
In Dallas, Christopher Roberts, 41, has applied for more than 150 truck-driving jobs since getting his commercial driver’s license in March. But after disclosing that he is on probation for a drug-related offense, all prospective employers have turned him down.
Several weeks ago, Roberts gave up looking.
“It’s either I don’t have the experience or it’s my background,” Roberts said. “How am I going to get the experience if no one is going to give me a shot? It’s just been real mind-boggling.”
Even though baby-boomer men are more likely than past generations to work into their 60s and 70s out of financial necessity, millions are hitting retirement age as the youth population shrinks, boosting the share of Americans who are retired. Other boomers are in good shape to retire early, thanks in part to long-term investments that have paid off.
Glenn Eckard, 63, sold his insurance business in Taylorsville, North Carolina, last year, retiring early after working since high school. His Social Security and stock market investments, as well as his wife’s robust pension and health care plan, allowed him to retire early, said Eckard, who described himself as “burned out” after decades of work in insurance and retail.
“With those pots of money, we have enough surplus to keep saving money,” said Eckard, who is planning a vacation to Alaska with his wife for next year.
Don Warren, 66, retired early after more than four decades working at a plastic-bag manufacturing factory in Indiana. He said as a plant manager, he got fed up with constant labor shortages after the pandemic and tapped into his Social Security early.
Warren now spends his days golfing, fishing and maintaining his 30-acre property 40 minutes outside Indianapolis. “I’m pretty happy,” he said.
Over the next eight years, workforce participation of men ages 20 to 24 is projected to fall by 4.7 percentage points, said An Nguyen, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab. That dip would be due to a shrinking youth population and job growth that is concentrated in industries typically dominated by women.
Cordell Loll, 25, of Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, has never worked due to a chronic stomach condition and mental health issues, he said. Instead, he spends his days playing video games and taking care of his health, living off meager monthly disability checks.
“I have a lot of trouble doing day-to-day stuff sometimes,” Loll said, “so the thought of working seems very impossible.”
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