Men in modern society are grappling with a loss of traditional roles, increasing worklessness, and a lack of purpose — issues largely ignored by policymakers, says Emma Revell

What do men want?

No, I haven’t given up on dating apps and decided to try my luck on the City AM opinion pages. This incredibly pertinent question was posed by an audience member at a Centre for Policy Studies panel last week.

The event hosted two phenomenal speakers, Richard Reeves and Nicholas Eberstadt, both of whom have written excellent books on the experiences of men in society today. How they are – for the first time, perhaps in human history – falling behind women in education and in work, and how society has struggled to adapt to a situation where men find themselves untethered from their traditional roles. ‘Male malaise’, as Reeves terms it, or the catchier, more quintessentially American ‘male fail’.

At the start of 1975, 90.5 per cent of working age men were in employment, compared to 55.7 per cent of women. Five decades later, women’s labour force participation has shot up to 71.9 per cent while men’s has dropped to 78.4 per cent – a significant shift in just one working lifetime, especially when you take into account the population increases.

© City A.M.