Why men aren’t working and what we can do about it

OPINION:

When I was young, one of the givens in life was that my father, a painting contractor, would leave home early in the day to put in a hard day’s work to provide for his family.

His job, however, was more than just a financial provision. It gave him a sense of purpose, discipline and direction as he built his business and professional reputation in our hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Sadly, times have changed. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that 44.07 million of the 132.8 million men eligible to work are jobless. That is 33.2% of American men who could be working but instead are not.

Having one-third of the eligible male working population unemployed has serious and negative familial, societal and economic ramifications.

On the familial level, it has become more difficult for young women to find economically stable partners — a factor in our overall decline in marriage rates. This also raises the number of single-parent families, as women choose to go it alone for lack of a suitable partner.

On the societal and economic levels, the decline of male employment means fewer skilled workers, fewer people paying into the Social Security system, more men becoming dependent upon government assistance, and increased male suicide and depression rates, as these men find themselves directionless.

What is causing men to stay home, resulting in women now holding the majority (50.1%) of payroll jobs in America? Several factors are at play.

In his book “Men Without Work,” Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute cites men raised without fathers, who would have modeled and taught them the value of work.

To Mr. Eberstadt’s point, my father modeled such a work ethic for me, and although I did not follow him into the paint contracting business, he provided me with an example of dedication, perseverance and purpose that would have been lacking without him.

Our society has devalued and demeaned the very essence of male identity: to be protectors and providers for their families. Boys today are instead told that their hard work is not needed, valued or appreciated, as exemplified by the popular feminist slogan, “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.”

Beyond cultural shifts, structural economic and educational barriers are also at play. Increased automation has eliminated many traditional blue-collar jobs previously held by men, while our educational system has failed to provide them with the real-world tools and experience needed to enter and remain in the workforce.

Sixty years ago, a high school education provided enough training and knowledge to obtain, at the very least, a working-class, labor-intensive job. Now, you need to look only at the alarmingly low rates of literacy, especially in our inner cities, to see that many men do not even possess that most basic form of education needed to secure and hold a job.

Thus, as a society, we have increasing numbers of boys and young men failing to launch into adulthood. They seem directionless and are unwilling to accept personal responsibility. More and more, they engage in violent acts and fall into despair.

They often become addicted to drugs, video games and pornography as ways of managing their pain.

Higher education — the key to unlocking good, well-paying jobs — has increasingly become women’s domain. For instance, women now make up nearly 60% of college and university students.

At many colleges and universities, male behavior has been described as “toxic,” and men find themselves under increasing attack for being men.

Author and speaker John Stonestreet perhaps put it best: “At many schools, [men] can expect to be consistently berated for things they have no control over, like for their ethnicity, or for simply being men.”

Although some men can bridge the gap by attending trade schools that provide the education they need, not every man is cut out for blue-collar work. Those who do not attend trade school find themselves increasingly locked out of white-collar opportunities because they lack college degrees.

How do we get men to reenter the workforce without returning to a time when the reverse was true, and it was women who suffered from a lack of opportunity?

First, we older men who did have good role models, such as my father, must mentor and encourage those who have grown up without such examples. Second, we need to return our educational system to one that understands the unique differences between men and women and how they learn, and that provides the real-life tools and experiences needed to succeed.

Finally, although there will always be men who engage in bad behavior, we must affirm and encourage those men who want to do the right thing rather than berate and punish them for the sins of others.

That is how I believe we can return men to the workforce while providing equal opportunity for both sexes to flourish and thrive, rather than allowing them to fall into increasing hopelessness and despair.

• Timothy S. Goeglein is the vice president of government and external relations at Focus on the Family and the co-author of a new book, “What Really Matters: Restoring a Legacy of Faith, Freedom, and Family” (Fidelis, 2026).