Boys are being let down by a lack of role models, a report has found.
The disappearance of youth clubs and volunteering by men in sports and leisure clubs has deprived boys of mentors to support their development, according to the report by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).
The report found only one in four (27 per cent) boys aged 10 to 15 said they were “completely happy” with life – compared with one in three (36 per cent) some 15 years ago, according to the UK household longitudinal survey.
The CSJ report follows claims, revealed two weeks ago, that Britain has failed white working-class boys, who remain the worst-performing group in England’s schools.
They were levelled at the Government by Lord Sewell, the author of a report into disparities in racial performance.
This weekend, a 5,000-strong poll by the NASUWT classroom union also disclosed a rising trend in misogyny in schools by boys directed at female teachers, with the poll’s indicator up from 17.4 per cent in 2023 to 23.4 per cent this year.
In a foreword to the CSJ report, published on Saturday, John Roberts, the chief executive of retailer AO and a prominent philanthropist, said it was time for men to “step up”.
“This report is a clarion call for more men to get involved to provide the role models thousands of lost boys and young men are desperately crying out for,” he said.
Previous studies by the CSJ have suggested that girls are outperforming boys at every level and that the so-called “gender pay gap” has been reversed in recent years in women’s favour.
Against a background of high levels of family breakdown, the CSJ said the retreat of men from volunteering at sports or community organisations further deprived boys of mentors they could respect and seek to emulate.
Polling carried out by Whitestone Insight, a research consultancy, for the CSJ found that among men over 45, only one in 20 was involved in a sports club, a proportion that plunged to one in 100 in some parts of the country.
This has been compounded by the depletion of youth services, with 1,000 fewer youth clubs today than there were 15 years ago. The number of youth workers has also fallen by over a third, to 1,662.
The CSJ’s findings are backed up by the organisation’s consultation with 100 small charities across the country working with young people.
The report said: “They drew our attention to unique issues boys in a modern world face, including a crisis of masculinity and the difficulty which young boys and men have defining the values by which they wish to live.
“They also pointed to the challenge of fatherlessness and the resulting lack of role models in their lives. Indeed, more young boys grow up with a smartphone than a father figure in the home.
“Failing to take part in outdoor activities where boys experience growth-inducing setbacks and learn key skills, such as emotional resilience, from the organic role models around them only serves to compound this challenge. One of the most valuable lessons that sport can teach us is how to lose and then carry on.”
The report argued that the withdrawal from spending time outdoors was among the most damaging social trends affecting boys today. It added that sport also played a vital role in helping boys experience valuable life lessons.
The CSJ called for a new “right to sport” for all secondary school pupils, with two hours of after-school physical activity each week, as well as a new national youth infrastructure fund, with the Government matching charity donations, and long-term stable funding for youth services.