Scholars and think-tank researchers, as well as mainstream media and social media, increasingly focus on the “trouble with men.” This attention is well deserved. Wholesale economic shifts have hollowed out the secure, well-paying jobs in the middle of the economy that once provided a source of security and status for many men without college degrees. Men at the top of the socioeconomic ladder, who are disproportionately white and Asian, have adjusted, snaring the rewards of a new, more unequal society. The majority of men, however, have not. Across multiple fronts, including educational attainment, employment, physical and mental health, and social integration, men and boys are struggling. A few statistics illustrate the scope of the problem: Men without bachelor’s degrees are 64% of the adult male population, but since the 1970s, the labor-force participation of these men has decreased dramatically, and their median wages have declined precipitously. The overdose rate for men is rising sharply, as is the rate of death by suicide; overdoses and suicides are concentrated among men without a college degree.
Scholars agree that this crisis is rooted in structural economic changes, but policy choices have exacerbated the declining economic prospects of men without college degrees. A heavy emphasis on incarceration makes it even harder for men—especially Black, Hispanic, and Native American men, who are overrepresented in prison and jail populations—to obtain jobs and integrate into society. And the policy choice to tolerate a high level of child poverty has had profound impacts. Childhood disadvantage affects educational and employment outcomes for all children, but the impact is more pronounced for boys than girls. Moreover, these factors are compounding. Boys who struggle in school are unlikely to continue to college, but the pathways into the secure, wellpaying jobs in the current economy often require a college degree. Thus, the disproportionate impact of childhood disadvantage on boys’ educational performance derails their life chances before they finish high school.
The decline in male well-being is not just a problem for boys and men. It is a problem for families. Men without college degrees have a hard time earning money to contribute to a family, and they have high rates of substance use and intimate partner violence. These challenges make it difficult for men to sustain long-term relationships. Indeed, 78% of women say they will not marry a man who does not have a steady job. Instead, men without college degrees typically enter into short-term, less committed relationships and have children in the context of such relationships. When the parents’ relationship ends, men tend to move to the periphery of family life, becoming less engaged with their children over time. The number of affected men is substantial: One in four fathers in the United States lives apart from at least one child, and one in five fathers does not live with any of his children.