12 Areas of Male Disadvantage in the United States
By SAVE
January 30, 2025
Debates about “gender equality” typically focus only on issues of concern to women. But what about gender equality as it applies to men?
- Education
- In 2022, 6.57 million male undergraduate students, compared to 8.82 million female students, were enrolled in degree-granting postsecondary institutions.
- Now, 47% of U.S. women ages 25 to 34 have a bachelor’s degree, compared with only 37% of men.
- Health
Men face a lifespan gender gap of over five years:
- Males: 74.8 years
- Females: 80.2 years
Suicide:
- The suicide rate among males in 2022 was four times higher than the rate among females. Males make up nearly 80% of suicides:
- Men: 23 per 100,000 persons
- Women: 5.9 per 100,000 persons
- Boys
The “Boy Crisis” refers to the worsening academic performance, depression, addiction, and other problems affecting boys.
- False Allegations
- According to a national YouGov survey, 11% of men, compared to 8% of women, have been falsely accused of domestic violence, sexual assault, or child abuse.
- Victims of Violence
- Men are far more likely to be victims of homicide than women. In 2023, the FBI reported that 13,789 male victims were murdered, compared to 3,849 female victims.
- Equal Shared Parenting
- The percentage of divorces with shared physical child custody in 2010-2014 was 33.6%. (Source: Meyer et al, Figure 1).
- This number has improved slowly in recent years.
- Criminal System
- Men face more severe treatment at every step of the criminal-legal process, especially during the charging, plea-bargaining, and sentencing stages.
- The bias is so severe that male victims of statutory rape often are required to pay child support to their rapist.
- Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse
- Each year, more men than women experience domestic violence, according to the Centers for Disease Control:
o Men: 6.5 million victims
o Women: 5.7 million victims - Even though men are frequent victims of domestic violence, only 9% of persons served by VAWA Discretionary Grant Programs are male. (Source: 2022 Biennial Report to Congress, Page 40)
- Homelessness
- In 2023, 68.4% of homeless people were men.
- Workplace Death and Injuries
- In 2022, there were 5,041 occupational injury deaths among men in the United States, compared to 445 deaths among women.
- The work-related injury rate among men was double that of women. (Source: Smith et al, Figure 1).
- Adoption and Reproductive Rights
Adoption: In many states, unmarried fathers have no say in decisions to put the baby up for adoption.
Reproductive Rights: Men have no legal rights in decisions to abort or save an unborn child.
Paternity Fraud: Paternity fraud is the intentional misidentification of a child’s biological father by the mother. Studies reveal 3.7% of pregnancies involve paternity fraud.
- Media
- Research conducted in the U.S. and other countries concludes that:
- 69% of media portrayals of men are unfavorable, often casting them as aggressors, perverts, or incompetents.
- Positive depictions, such as good fathers or heroes, constitute only 18% of media portrayals.
- Men are often stereotyped as sexual aggressors, even though in juvenile facilities, female officers commit 95% of all sexual assaults.
Other Resources:
Editorials and Articles:
- Senator Josh Hawley: America’s Manhood Crisis
- Jeff Haanen: The Struggles of Men Are a Problem for Everyone
Public Opinion Poll:
- Pew Research: How Americans See Men and Masculinity
Male Disparities Around the World: