It's all too common for young people to fail to launch. Last year, Fortune reported that 4 million Gen Zers are NEETs, which means they aren't in education, employment, or training. They aren't working or going to school, so more often than not, they're sitting at home doing nothing, which isn't great for them, their parents, or society at large.
The reasons for failure to launch are varied, depending on the young adult and their family structure. Many young people who fail to launch blame the economy. They got an engineering or computer science degree because they were told those were stable fields that would lead to immediate employment after graduation. Unfortunately, everyone else in the country got the exact same advice, so there is a surplus of graduates who can all do the exact same thing. That reality, coupled with the emergence of AI and uncertainty about its future in the tech industry, means many STEM graduates can't find jobs in their fields after graduation, leaving them working in retail and unable to move out of their parents' house. Many young computer science graduates have given up on coding and tech altogether, even though they haven't yet broken into the industry. The fact that they haven't broken into the industry is enough evidence that they should give up on it altogether.
Other young people fail to launch because their parents let them. They are perfectly capable of getting a job that pays enough to live on their own (or with roommates), but they don't want to because living at home is too darn comfortable. They don't have that little voice in the back of their head saying, "I need to get out of here" when they're at their parents' house. I love my parents, but the second I could leave the nest, I was out. I know that if I were ever in a bad situation, my parents would be there for me and let me stay with them. I'm sure they'd be happy if I were back at home for a month, even if there was nothing wrong! But the tune would probably change after a year. My parents didn't even need to say that my sister and I were expected to get on our own two feet after we graduated from college. We just did it! But not all adult children are willing to do so. Sometimes it makes sense for an adult to live at home indefinitely. If they can't care for themselves, it makes sense for them to live with their parents indefinitely.
The young man in this story probably could get a job, but he's 26 and still hasn't. Partly it's because he hasn't gotten sufficient treatment for his anxiety, partly it's because his parents are enablers, and partly it's because he's just too plain lazy to go out and find a job. His friends are the only ones who can be honest with him, and he's finally starting to listen.