A social scientist and author told CNN he worries about the number of men in their 30s and 40s who aren’t buying homes or starting families.
“Of Boys and Men” author Richard Reeves spoke to CNN host Michael Smerconish about the social dynamics brewing in America, where a significant portion of men fail to meet age standards adulthood that their parents have reached, 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 reached later, but for many people they are not reached at all,” Reeves told Smerconish , commenting on a recent Wall. Street Journal article discussing this trend.
“And right now it seems that it is the economic and social prospects of young men that are the main problem we face,” he continued.
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Author Richard Reeves talks to CNN about the growing number of men unable to reach traditional milestones of adulthood in America. (Screenshot/CNN)
Citing the most concerning data he’s seen, Reeves said: “Yes, for me it’s the fact that men in their 30s and 40s now, who don’t have a college degree, half of them ‘among them have no children at home.
Reeves, who is also president of the American Institute for Boys and Men, noted that the new dynamic is that, rather than waiting until later to reach these milestones, men are not reaching them at all, which is concerning .
“Taking a little more time to get an education, taking your time to start a family, maybe settling down financially – that’s probably a good thing, but that’s not what’s happening right now. What’s happening now is that these milestones for a lot of people are just not being achieved at all.”
Elsewhere, he said: “Honestly, Michael, I wasn’t worried about the delay. I’m worried about it now because I think we’re going from ‘It’s just coming later’ to ‘That’s it. It just doesn’t happen.'”
Furthermore, he noted that men don’t necessarily choose to give up these achievements, they feel incapable of achieving them. “The data suggests that in reality, men in particular still want to have children, they still want to get married, they still want to start a family. It’s just that, for whatever reason, they’re not able to do it .”
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“It’s a mix, as always, of economics and culture. Part of it is, you know, that young men in particular feel like they’re not doing as well economically as they should ” Reeves said, adding that the current genre. Divisions within society compound this problem.
“A third of men under 30 are not dating. 24% of men are still living at home in their 20s, as you just pointed out.”
The expert then indicated where to start to solve this problem. “We need to improve the economic prospects of young men, if you’re going to do one thing. So we need to invest more in an education system that works for men,” he said, mentioning promoting job training, apprenticeship and the fight against the stagnation of male wages.
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He also added, “We just need 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 highlighted an aspect that society has overlooked that has made this problem worse, saying, “We haven’t created a culture in which it’s easy enough for men and women to start families, to buy a home, to start their career. life.”
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