A social scientist and author told CNN he is concerned about the number of men in their 30s and 40s who are not buying homes or starting families.
‘Of Boys and Men’ author Richard Reeves spoke with CNN host Michael Smerconish about the growing social dynamics in America, where a significant portion of men are not reaching the standards of adulthood that their parents did, including owning a home or having children.
“It speaks to a change, a significant change, which is the fact that these milestones are not only being achieved later, but for many people they are not being achieved at all,” Reeves told Smerconish, commenting on a recent study. Article in the Wall Street Journal discuss this trend.
“And right now it seems that the economic and social prospects of young men are the big problem we face,” he continued.
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Author Richard Reeves speaks to CNN about the growing number of men in America who are unable to reach the traditional milestones of adulthood. (Screenshot/CNN)
Reeves cited the most disturbing data he’s ever seen: “Yes, for me it’s the fact that men now in their 30s and 40s, who don’t have a college degree, half of them don’t have children at home. .”
Reeves, who is also chairman of the American Institute for Boys and Mennoted that the new dynamic is that instead of waiting later to reach these milestones, men are not reaching them at all, and that’s concerning.
“Taking a little more time to get an education, taking the time to start a family, maybe to get by financially – that may be a good thing, but that’s not what’s happening now. What’s happening now is that these milestones simply haven’t been achieved for many people.” be achieved at all.”
Elsewhere he said: “To be honest, Michael, I didn’t used to worry about this delay. I’m worried about it now because I think we’re moving from “This won’t happen until later” to “It’s just not happening.” ”
Furthermore, he noted that men do not necessarily choose to forego these achievements; they feel like they can’t reach them. “The data suggests that men in particular still want to have children, still want to get married and still want to have a family. It’s just that for some reason they can’t.”
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“It is, as always, a mix of economy and culture. Part of this is just, you know, young men in particular feel like they’re not doing as well economically as they need to be,” Reeves said, adding that the current gender gap in society contributes to this problem.
“A third of men under 30 are not in a relationship. 24% of men still live at home in their 20s, as you just pointed out.”
The expert then indicated where to start addressing this problem. “We need to improve the economic prospects for young men – that is, if you’re going to do one thing. So we need to invest more in an education system that works for men,” he said, promoting vocational training, apprenticeships and the fight against the flattening of wages for men.
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He also said, “We just have to lower the temperature around some of these cultural issues, some of these political issues that I think have really driven a wedge between a lot of young men and young, young women.”
Reeves pointed that out in one place society has overlooked that has exacerbated this problem by stating, “we haven’t created a culture where it’s easy enough for men and women to form these families, to buy a house, to get started in life.”
