GB News presenter Martin Daubney says there is a masculinity ‘crisis’ in Britain with new stats painting a damaging picture for young boys.
According to the figures, if you are born male today you are more likely to struggle in school, the workplace and at home.
A lack of purpose for young boys has been cited as a possible reason for this by Daubney, who said a Minister for Men should be introduced.
“We hear a lot about the myth of white, male privilege”, he said.
Martin Daubney has bemoaned Britain's boy crisis
GB NEWS / GETTY
“The facts paint a very different picture. Boys start behind at the age of three and never catch up.
“White, working class lads are the least likely to go to university of any demographic.
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“A third of white boys aged 18-24 are now economically inactive, that has doubled since the 1990s.
“Two million on the scrap heap. Why does nobody care about them?”
Tory MP Nick Fletcher disagreed with Daubney’s assertion that ‘no one cares’ about young men, but agreed that young boys have been left behind.
“We have definitely taken our eye off of this ball”, he said.
Martin Daubney spoke to Nick Fletcher
GB NEWS
“There has been a push for young girls to get into higher education, that has been the right thing to do.
“But while doing that, we have definitely not been looking at what we have been doing to young boys.”
Daubney added: “We have a crisis with masculinity. We need to give these young men a purpose.
“If you give a man a purpose, he will have a productive life. We have taken away those manufacturing jobs and taken away the pits.
“Don’t we just need to give young people hope?”
The data from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) notes “a significant gender gap in both cognitive and socio-emotional development” by the time young people reach the age of three.
By the time children start primary school, two-thirds of girls have reached a “good level of development”, meaning they are able to write a simple sentence or count past 20.
Just under two-thirds of boys have reached the same milestone, with the disparity even bigger for children eligible for free school meals.