In the US, women and girls now outperform men and boys at every level of education. Boys are less likely to graduate from high school, enroll in college or finish college. Men are more likely to die by suicide, and they aren't participating in the labor market as much as they used to either. In the last forty years, American society has made concerted efforts to boost opportunities for women and girls. That job is not finished, so when we talk about gender inequality in America, it makes sense that the conversations tend to be about women. But American boys and men are falling behind. Have we accidentally overlooked their struggles? Today on Top of Mind, we're looking at a few of the issues facing modern men and boys, and how to help them. We talk to a program director working with boys of color in Baltimore, an economist who’s studied what it means for boys to be raised in single parent households at a record rate, an academic who’s been following these trends for years, and the founder of a nonprofit with an unusual approach to supporting men in their mental health struggles.
