A social and economic crisis is deepening as millions of adults worldwide withdraw from work and society, propped up by aging parents who won't be around much longer.

• Japan has an estimated 1.46 million hikikomori — total shut-ins — and half are aged 40 to 64, meaning their caretaker parents are dying off.
• The trigger is money: the 2008 crash, Covid job losses, high rents, and no path to buying a home pushed a generation to stop trying.
• When rent eats more than half your income, the motivation to work collapses — sociologists call it the "point of withdrawal."
• The West is following: 1 in 3 US adults under 35 live with their parents, and the UK has 2.8 million people out of work on long-term health grounds, many young.
• As boomers spend savings on healthcare and sell family homes, the expected inheritance vanishes, leaving middle-aged dependents with no backup.

Outlook: Governments are testing fixes — South Korea pays shut-ins about $500 a month to seek help, Japan sends visitors to coax them out — but the strain on pensions, Social Security, and health systems will only grow as boomers age.