Mike Rowe warns America has 7 million men in their prime who aren’t working — and they’re not even looking. Here’s why he thinks the US workforce is ‘wildly out of balance’

Able-bodied men? Not really

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), men between the ages of 25 and 54 saw their labor force participation rate drop from 98% in September 1954 to 89.1% in March 2025.

To understand why men in their prime were participating less, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) conducted a survey in 2024.

Fifty-seven percent of prime-age men not seeking work cited physical, mental or behavioral health reasons. Close to 30% said they are not working by choice, and 9% said they are busy caring for others. "This was significantly different from men who are looking for work, of whom only 16% said their physical or mental health was the main reason they were out of work," said the study.

Put simply, men who are not employed and not looking for work may not be as “able-bodied” or mentally fit as Rowe assumes. However, his thesis about an unbalanced labor market seems justified. Men seem to have acquired skills that are no longer a good fit for the labor market.

Fortunately, there are solutions for both issues.

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Solving the male participation crisis

Since mental and physical health concerns are keeping many men out of the workforce, a better framework for supporting employees in the workplace could address some of the participation challenges.

A majority of men (52%) not looking for work in the Bipartisan Policy Center survey said that better health insurance coverage from their employers would be an important factor for them to consider going back to work.

Between 40% and 47% also said they would like to see paid sick leave, accommodations for disabilities, flexible working arrangements and mental health benefits.

Meanwhile, Rowe is trying to address the talent gap by compensating young Americans who try to gain new skills and enter sectors with severe talent shortages.

His foundation, mikeroweWORKS, has given out nearly $12 million in scholarships to over 2,000 recipients across the country since 2008.

President Trump recently signed an executive order titled “Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future” to expand the Department of Labor’s Registered Apprenticeships program.