Here’s an article from the Wall Street Journal on the topic. I believe this is a free link:
A few tidbits from the article:
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There are 700k fewer men aged 25-34 employed or looking for work than there would have been if participation was at the rate it was in 2004.
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20% of men in this age range live at home, compared to 12% of women.
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8.6% of men and 7.8% of women aged 16-29 are NEET (noncaregivers who aren’t disabled, and aren’t employed, in school, or in workforce training).
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The pandemic affected young men worse than many women as men tend to rely on in-person activities to maintain their social connections (in contrast with, say, picking up a phone and talking with someone).
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Men aged 18-30 spent 18% more time alone (avg. 6.6 nonsleeping hours/day) in 2023 than in 2019, which is 22% more more alone time than women in the same age group.
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Almost 2/3 of 18-30 year old men in a poll said that nobody knew them well and 25% said they’d hadn’t seen anyone outside of their home in the past week.
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The suicide rate for men aged 25=34 is up 30% between 2010 and 2023, the highest of any age group.
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Additionally, there was a point made that a lot of the young men don’t feel needed like they think previous generations of men were and so they don’t have as much direction of what they want their future to look like.
So, this is more about some of the issues facing males 18-35, but where does that leave those of us who want to help the situation? I’m thinking about some of these possibilities:
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Get more social engagement…the men need to stop bowling alone. Rather than playing video games alone, have multiple screens at a rec center for people to play together in the same physical space. Have intramural/rec leagues for adults. Our local community tends to do things up until age 18, and then there’s nothing. But continue to create spaces for continued interaction, whether basketball, ultimate frisbee, pickleball, whatever.
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We need to normalize the discussion of feelings and emotions and remove any stigma from doing so, as there seems to be much more stigma for men than for women with respect to discussing topics that are of greater emotional significance.
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We need to continue to rip up gender stereotypes and expectations. If young men are being raised with the expectation of being their family’s breadwinner, and that such a position is limited to certain professions with a high bar for entry (many of the fields that kids come on CC wanting) or in disappearing industries (i.e. manufacturing and union jobs), then they can feel lost when those options don’t seem obtainable. Making it okay for them to dream of being stay-at-home dads or elementary school teachers or nurses (which more males are doing now) or potters or whatever other career that might have generally been gendered towards females.
Anyone want to share other thoughts?