Boys and young men struggle. In their lives – in their educational performance, mental health and transitions to adulthood – there are warning signals that they are falling behind, even while their female peers are progressing.
In the United States, researchers say that various economic and social changes have combined to change the trajectories of boys and men. School has changed to ways that girls favor, and The work has changed In a way that benefits women. Boys are often seen as troublemakers, and men have heard that masculinity is ‘toxic’.
Young people themselves the tendency to agree That girls are now at least equal to – and often do better than – boys. A lot of Young men say They feel unheated and undervalued, and parents and adults who work with children are worried about guys. It is not just a feeling: there is a wealth of data that shows that boys and young men are stagnating. Below I will explain what some of those data are.
What’s the matter with boys and young men? We want to hear from you.
Some boys are more affected than others – the results for Black guys are worse, and growing up in poverty disproportionate Boys hurts. And in some cases the patterns are not new – boys are always left behind on girls in certain areas, but little attention has been paid to their problems, perhaps because men have dominated in so many areas.
That starts to change, said Niobe Way, author of “rebels with a cause: reinvestion boys, ourselves and our culture” and a professor in developmental psychology on NYU “Boys and young men, they are starving just like everyone else to be seen as they see themselves, as good people,” she said. “They not only want to survive, but also have the chance to thrive.”
Here is an overview of some ways in which boys and young men do not bloom.
Education
School has become more academic, making it perhaps more difficult for boys, who later mature later than girls, researchers say. Boys Go to Kindergarten Behind girls, both in their academic readiness and in their behavior. The gender holes will continue to exist when they go through school. In the United States, Girls score better on reading tests than guys. Girls earn higher GPAs. Boys are more likely suspended.
All this leads to a lower chance of graduating high school on time for boys than girls – 83 percent for boys compared to 89 percent for girls, according to To an analysis of a Brookings institution.
Women also surpass men in the university registration, which is linked to broader career perspectives and higher income. Of the recent graduates from the male high school, around 57 percent are registered at the university, barely higher than 54 percent in 1960, Federal Data. In the same period, registration for women in the university has risen beyond them – 66 percent is now registered, an increase of 38 percent. (For both the registration is due to prepandemical highlights.)
Boys also have strengths at school. On mathematical tests they tend to surpass girls (special White and Asian American boys in suburbs with a high income), and since the pandemic the academic performance of boys have been Improved compared to girls. Yet researchers say that there is something about the modern school that enables boys to fulfill their potential.
“In education this is more a story about the acceleration of girls,” said Richard Reeves, president of the American Institute for Boys and Men. “But there is enough evidence to think that the education system is not as boy -friendly as it could and should be.”
Mental health
Mental health has deteriorated for young people in general, and for boys In some different ways than for girls. Among boys aged 3 to 17, 28 percent have a mental, emotional, behavioral or developmental problem, compared to 23 percent of girls, according to The child and adolescent health initiative.
Boys are about twice as much chance as girls to get ADHD or autism diagnosis, although experts warn that they can be diagnosed in girls, for whom symptoms can appear differently.
Mental health has also been Falling for girlswho are more likely Then guys to have fear and depression. Researchers say that because boys are still stoic, their struggles appear more often in their behavior. Almost two -thirds of the teenagers say that boys are more disturbing in the classroom, while only 4 percent say girls are, Pew Research Center found In a recent study among teenagers. (Other behavior, however, such as physical fighting and drug use, has been taken for boys.)
And although most teenage boys, 84 percent, Pew told They have at least one friend on which they can lean for emotional support, that is not so many If the 95 percent of the girls say they do that.
In general, suicide is more common in men than women and has increased in young people. But the rises are much larger for young men. In 2023, the suicide percentage for men from 15 to 24 years old was 21 per 100,000, against 11 in 1968, According to an analysis from CDC data of the American Institute for Boys and Men. The suicide figure for young women was five per 100,000, an increase compared to three.
“The data is clear that men are not super healthy,” says Matt Englar-Carlson, a professor and founder of the Center for Boys and Men in Cal State Fullerton. “I don’t know any men my age or younger who don’t know anyone who died of suicide.”
Transition to adulthood
Although young people in general take longer to reach the traditional milestones of maturity, it applies in particular to young men.
Among men aged 25 to 34, 19 percent still live with their parents, an increase of 14 percent in 1983, according to to provide data from the census. Of the women of that age, 13 percent live with their parents, an increase of 11 percent four decades ago.
While women and men used to be single – less than a third of the age of 25 to 54 in 1990 – now 39 percent of men and 36 percent of women have no partner, a Pew Analysis or Census data found (The mismatch can be because women often collaborate with older men, Pew researchers said.)
The work trajectories of men and women are also varied, because many of the jobs that usually did men, such as manual labor, have disappeared in the United States while Women dominate the current service -oriented work.
The part of the men who work or are looking for work has decreased steadily, while the share of women that the functioning of women has risen rapidly. Of the men aged 25 to 54, 89 percent are in the labor force, a decrease of 94 percent in 1975. Of women aging, 78 percent in the labor force is an increase of 55 percent in 1975.
And while women still earn less than men, their median weekly income has risen 19 percent Since 2000, while men have just increased 7 percent In that period.
“The contemporary American economy does not reward much of the characteristics related to men and masculinity,” said Robb Willer, a professor of sociology to Stanford, “and the feeling is that those trends will continue.”
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