The Context of the Crisis Facing Young Men
August 27, 2026
In the public discussion of young men, their struggles are often framed in a harsh “narrative” that goes like this: A growing number—too many—are failing in school, not working or studying, not dating or forming families, not leaving their childhood bedrooms. They are checked out from social life, have few, if any, friends, and belong to few, if any, social or civic groups. Their mental health is poor, their habits are bad—video games, pornography, gambling, pot-smoking—and their views are extremist.
As commonly told, the dark story of their failures is, at least implicitly, set against a more successful comparison group, whether young women or older generations of men.
