Why are increasing numbers of young men withdrawing from work—and what happens when people lose a sense of purpose, competence and belonging?
Claire Lehmann speaks with psychiatrist and author Tanveer Ahmed about the growing number of men who have stopped working or looking for work, despite persistent labour shortages across the Western world.
Ahmed argues that this phenomenon cannot be understood simply as unemployment or clinical depression. He describes a broader problem of demoralisation: people who are capable of functioning but have become stuck, disconnected and uncertain about what their lives are for.
They discuss the changing status of ordinary work, the rise of mental-health and disability identities, welfare incentives, online entertainment, cannabis, declining community ties, immigration and the changing labour market for men. They also explore why work can provide something that money alone cannot: structure, competence, dignity and a feeling of being needed.
The conversation asks a difficult question: have modern societies become exceptionally good at satisfying our desires while becoming worse at giving people meaningful roles?
Tanveer Ahmed is a psychiatrist and author of Fragile Nation, In Defence of Shame and The Exotic Rissole.
READ TANVEER'S ARTICLE
Men Without Meaning — Tanveer Ahmed
https://quillette.com/2026/07/28/men-without-meaning/
MORE FROM TANVEER AHMED
Tanveer Ahmed's Quillette author page:
https://quillette.com/author/tanveer-ahmed/
BUY TANVEER AHMED'S BOOKS
Fragile Nation — Tanveer Ahmed
https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=Fragile+Nation+Tanveer+Ahmed&tag=quillette-20
In Defence of Shame — Tanveer Ahmed
https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=In+Defence+of+Shame+Tanveer+Ahmed&tag=quillette-20
The Exotic Rissole — Tanveer Ahmed
https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=The+Exotic+Rissole+Tanveer+Ahmed&tag=quillette-20
CHAPTERS
00:00 — Why Men Need to Feel Useful
00:24 — Men Without Meaning
01:08 — Why Are Men Leaving the Workforce?
02:12 — The Cycle of Work, Welfare and Disability
03:35 — Why Men Are Opting Out of Work
05:36 — When Mental-Health Labels Become Status
08:51 — When Diagnosis Becomes Identity
11:24 — Status, Identity and the Loss of Community
13:28 — Are Welfare Incentives Keeping Men Out of Work?
15:19 — Why Staying Home Has Never Been Easier
17:26 — Have We Cured Boredom?
18:59 — Better Consumers, Worse Citizens?
22:24 — Why the Labour Market Is Changing Men's Lives
24:28 — Men, Work and the Dating Market
26:15 — Can Work Restore Purpose?
29:19 — Demoralisation Is Not Depression
30:41 — Immigration and the Value of Low-Paid Work
33:14 — Cannabis and Male Demotivation
35:49 — The Feedback Loop of Disengagement
36:28 — How Can We Make Men Feel Needed?
40:11 — When Mental Illness Becomes an Identity
