Americans Must Solve a Civilization-Level Crisis.

Brenda Hafera
“The Kids are Alright,” The Who once sang. But about half of American kids are far from alright—in fact, our boys are in real trouble.

The statistics are jarring. Young men without both parents are more likely to spend time in prison than graduate college, according to sociologist Brad Wilcox’s Get Married. In the United States, the second leading cause of death for men under 45 is suicide. Political economist Nicholas Eberstadt contends in Men Without Work that male workforce engagement is at the level it was during the Great Depression.

Political scientist Warren Farrell and counselor John Gray point out in The Boy Crisis that by age nine, children who are not getting enough time with their fathers have telomeres (chromosome indicators which predict life expectancy) 14% shorter than average.

These are startling indicators that boys and men are struggling to flourish in America. What Farrell and Gray term the “boy crisis” is widespread and affects male academic achievement, employment, and mental, physical, and spiritual health. We are now seeing this crisis at each stage of life, and it often gains momentum as our boys become students and workers.

The main driver of the boy crisis is dad deprivation. Only roughly half of children today grow up with both their parents. When couples live together but are not married and have a child, by that child’s third birthday, Farrell and Gray write, “40 percent…will have no regular contact with their dad for the next two years.”

Whether or not dad is involved predicts academic achievement, drug use, employment, and verbal intelligence, among other important indicators of human flourishing. And the effects are often more severe for boys than girls. For example, the telomere loss for boys without fathers is 40% greater. And that is just one tangible measurement. So much of how we learn to be good men and women is by imitating good men and women—and having a loving father is tremendously helpful for a boy to develop a vision for his life.