AMANDA REPORTS: It’s Getting Harder For Young Men To Succeed
(733 WORDS) — America’s young men are facing ever-growing roadblocks to reaching major adult maturity milestones, including financial independence, marriage and family, according to a new report by the Institute for Family Studies.
The first installment of a two-part series — America’s Demoralized Men, Part 1: Worthy Aspirations, Trying Circumstances — takes a deep dive into the why of their challenges. Alarming reasons for these challenges go beyond typical difficulties faced by young men, compared to earlier generations. Part Two of the series is expected to be published in the near future.
The new report shows that young men want the commitments of marriage and raising children, among other markers of manhood, yet find themselves lacking proper education and jobs that pay enough to support a family.
In response, young men are delaying marriage until they consider themselves better able to reach sufficient financial security. All of this is taking longer for today’s young men to achieve.
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The 2025 survey conducted by YouGov queried 2,000 Generation Z men living in the United States and, compared to prior generations, the major measures of adulthood are lower:
“A sizable literature highlights the role of “structural” changes as the most important contributing factors. The struggles of young men are symptoms of wider economic and educational alterations, such as the off-shoring of manufacturing and unfavorable school policies that have weakened the opportunity structure for men,” the report found.
With changes to education and approaches to relationships, cultural influences such as social media ihave proven unhelpful in many respects to young men. Most of the respondents said they view their mothers and fathers as their top positive influencers, followed by coaches and teachers.
Masculinity for most young men today is challenged in many respects similarly to prior generations. Overall, today’s men believe manhood involves strength, responsibility, leadership, and a willingness to sacrifice for others.
They view masculinity as an asset to offer rather than a weakness. This standard also shows young men are looking to set and reach goals instead of believing everything in life should come easy.
Masculinity is an Asset
Accepting responsibility for yourself was reported as extremely important for adulthood at 55 percent, with being financially independent from your parents at 53 percent, and making independent decisions at 51 percent.
“Independence is the most important marker of adulthood for young men,” the Institute for Family Studies report shows.
Although apathy was not observed as part of the problem, lack of direction or purpose was. Failed socialization including negative views toward women, concern for risk of divorce, distractions via screen, passivity, isolation and poor work ethic are eating away at that which develops young men toward reaching their true goals. Many are less civically involved, get into trouble with the law or engage in other behaviors not indicative of adulthood.
Adding fuel to the fire, young men are held to high expectations while facing demoralization by negative societal views toward men in general, masculinity, and manhood. An alarming number of young men surveyed, nearly half, responded that they believe they are failures.
Though the report notes that taking on roles of marriage and parenting tend to solidify one’s personal view of having reached adulthood, “attaining these roles is no longer a primary defining characteristic of adulthood for most young men,” the report reveals.
Analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data conducted by the Pew Research Center shows young adults reach major life markers of adulthood much later than their predecessors. Milestones such as full-time employment, financial and living independence, marriage and parenthood are reached later than those of young adults 40 years prior.
“By age 25, the financial differences between young adults today and those in 1980 are narrower but still statistically significant. About two-thirds of 25-year-olds (66 percent) were working full time in 2021, compared with 73 percent in 1980. And 60 npercent were financially independent in 2021, compared with 63 percent in 1980,” according to Pew research.
Pew further noted that differences between men and women in terms of reaching certain milestones reveal men today at age 25 are less likely than women of the same age to be employed full time and financially independent.
“Young men and women today differ in how they stack up against their predecessors. Today’s 25-year-old women are just as likely as their predecessors in 1980 to work full time (both 61 percent?) and more likely to be financially independent (56 percent vs. 50 percent). By contrast, today’s 25-year-old men are less likely than their predecessors in 1980 to have achieved these milestones,” the Pew report shows.
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