Richard V. Reeves

Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to do About It

Boys are 50% more likely than girls to fail at all three key school subjects: maths, reading and science. In the US, the wages of most men are lower today than they were in 1979, while women’s wages have risen across the board. In the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men under the age of 45. Boys are falling behind at school and college because the educational system is structured in ways that put them at a disadvantage. Men are struggling in the labour market because of an economic shift away from traditionally male jobs. And fathers are dislocated because the cultural role of family provider has been hollowed out.

The male malaise is not the result of a mass psychological breakdown, but of deep structural challenges. Structural challenges require structural solutions, and this is what Richard V. Reeves proposes in Of Boys and Men – starting boys at school a year later than girls; getting more men into caring professions; rethinking the role of fatherhood outside of a nuclear family context.

Feminism has done a huge amount of good in the world. We now need its corollary – a positive vision of masculinity that is compatible with gender equality.