The generation of younger men faces far worse outcomes than younger women. We don’t value boys and masculinity. Too many young men are isolated. Boys and young men are in danger.
Headlines, opinions and speeches about the crisis facing boys and men have been unforgiving in recent weeks as the adolescents in Netflix dramas sparked conversations from school gates to Congress’s homes.
However, while the public debate focuses on the crisis the boys are facing, a series of statistics that are less said about the statistics suggest that girls are not the winners of the zero-sum game. An English Children’s Commissioner told the Guardian this week that the current debate risked boys and girls opposing each other.
“It’s a generation that’s passionate about change, but both boys and girls face pressure and impacts that the previous generation never imagined,” said Rachel de Souza. “We can’t hold boys against girls because these are issues that are shared for all children.”
Last month, a report from the Center for Social Justice claimed that the past 100 years had been “marked by a major leap in women’s outcomes and rights,” but for this generation, “they’re left with boys.” Lost boy The report said girls were better than boys in education “from nursery to university” but men aged 16-24 are more likely to be unemployed than younger women, and are more likely to be paid 9% less on full-time jobs.
However, men are more likely to be paid significantly than their working lives, with revenues being “almost completely unaffected by parent-child relationships.” Analysis by the Institute of Financial Research. It showed that after women had children, their incomes suddenly declined and remained stable at much lower levels, with little growth. Seven years after the birth of their first child, women’s earnings average less than half of men’s.
When it comes to education, British girls say they are less safe and more disillusioned at schools, according to a survey released last week. University of Manchester Research It was released last month They asked teenage girls about their school experience and discovered that outperform had their own pitfalls. “As to the story that girls are always better than boys, some of them said, ‘Well, that’s actually a lot of pressure,'” said Dr. Ola Demkowicz, author of the report. “‘There’s this assumption that we’re fine.’ ”
And current research suggests that it is far from the incident. There is a mental health crisis that is widely recognized among all young people, Rancet Earlier this year, it revealed that the number of children admitted to acute UK hospitals with serious mental health concerns has increased by 65% over the course of 10 years.
Recent data from across Europe study The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggested that British girls are the most sick and unhappy in Europe. Almost two-thirds of 11-year-old British girls reported having multiple health issues at least twice a week, and experienced the poorest mental health in all 44 countries surveyed. This resonated with reports from the children’s society last year. Aggravated Between 2018 and 2022, boys’ satisfaction remained roughly the same.
It is a photo recognised by Dr. Elaine Lockhart, chairman of the Royal Psychiatrist’s Child and Adolescent Teachers. “We’re absolutely running to try something that unfortunately isn’t very successful. “The girls we’re looking at are the tip of the iceberg… Behind them there are more people who become clinically unsure and sad.”
The NHS figures show that the number of girls admitted to hospital after self-harm has increased significantly, and annual admissions for eating disorders (this is NHS Datait has grown from 478 to 2,938 over the past decade.
“I say neither me nor the boys are doing well,” Lockhart emphasized. “I wonder if part of this is likely to present a girl and a woman with a boy with emotional disabilities and behavioral problems. That’s the same two aspects of the same coin.”
Covid is undoubtedly affecting children and young people, but more and more countries are taking action to limit the potential impact of online content on children’s mental health.
Children and teens were discovering the usual challenge of being “completely distorted” by the pressures of social media, the rise of influencers and the 24-hour nature of communication, De Souza said. “In many ways, we are worried about a society’s retreat,” she said.
But broader social norms, such as eligibility for parental leave, and outdated structural systems, have overthrew both girls and boys, says Joeli Brearley, a maternal activist and Tohote a be a Boy podcast. “Something’s been so badly wrong,” she said. “The old system is no longer standing, but this generation needs help and support to create a society that doesn’t make them feel like they’re looking at the deep by.”
