HE LIES

Mike Rowe warns America has 7 million men in their prime who aren’t working — and aren't looking either. Here’s why

Fri, August 15, 2025
Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC 

Moms For America/YouTube

American TV host and philanthropist Mike Rowe believes there’s a “horror story” unfolding in the American labor market.

“The stat that sticks with me and worries me today is 7.2 million able-bodied men, today in their prime working years, are not only unemployed … [they’re] officially not even looking,” he said in an interview with non-profit Moms For America.
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Rowe did not provide a source for this statistic, but 3.3% of prime working-age men (ages 25 to 54) did not participate in the labor market in June 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This means that of the 65,162,760 working-age men in June, 3.3% or about 2.2 million men were unemployed. There is no information on whether they were “able-bodied” or not.

Rowe also pointed to the shortage of tradespeople in the U.S. and said the nation’s labor force is “wildly out of balance.” Here’s why many men have abandoned the formal economy.

Able-bodied men? Not really

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.

Put simply, men who are not employed and not looking for work may not be as “able-bodied” or mentally fit as Rowe assumes.
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.

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.