Facts

KEY FACTS ABOUT MEN AND BOYS’ WELLBEING (UK)

The House of Commons Library has a briefing packed with statistics about the wellbeing of men and boys as part of the House of Commons’ International Men’s Day debate in 2025.

In addition, the Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys has produced a useful statistics report too called Missing Men.

The use of comparisons with women are for context reasons, it is not a competition between men and women.

School Readiness & Attainment

Boys are behind girls at every stage of education and are more likely to be excluded from school.

  • Foundation Year: Only 60% of boys are school-ready (75% of girls).
  • Key Stage 2 (2025, RW&M combined): 59% of boys vs 66% of girls.
  • GCSE (England): 43.7% of boys (46.7% girls) achieved Grade 5+ in English & maths.
  • A Levels (2024/25): 76.7% of male entries achieved C+ (80.4% female); 59,000 fewer Grade C+ awards to males.
  • Exclusions (England, 2024/25): 6,941 boys excluded vs 2,965 girls.

Source: Department for Education / Ofqual

University Entry

45,000 fewer young men (19 and under) go to university.

  • 2025: 45,000 fewer UK males aged 19 and under went to university than their female peers.
  • 2023/24: 39.5% of males vs 52.5% of females (females 33% more likely to attend).

Source: UCAS end of cycle data / DfE

NEETs

13.4% of men aged 16–24 are NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training).

  • Rate: 13.4% (about 1 in 7) young men are NEET.
  • Breakdown: 274,000+ economically inactive and 238,000 unemployed (vs 128,000 young women).

Source: Office for National Statistics (UK)

Suicide Rates

Suicide death rates among men are increasing to over 14 every day – over 5,000 in total.

  • 2024: 5,000+ men died by suicide in the UK (75% of the total).
  • Context: Suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 50.

Source: Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys

Health

Life expectancy is 4 years lower for men than women.

  • England & Wales: Life expectancy at birth was 79.0 years (males) vs 83.0 years (females).
  • 1 in 5 UK men do not live to 65.

Source: ONS – National life tables

Prostate Cancer

  • On average, c12,000 men  die from prostate cancer every year. This is 33 per day and one every 45 minutes.

    Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in males in the UK, accounting for 14% of all cancer deaths in males in the UK.

Unemployment

Nearly 1 million men are unemployed.

  • Rate (Q2 2026): 5.3%.
  • Total: 985,000 men unemployed

Source: Office for National Statistics

Rough Sleeping

83% of rough sleepers are male.

  • England (Autumn 2025): 3,938 men sleeping rough — highest since 2017.

Source: MHCLG Rough sleeping snapshot

Prison Population

Men make up 96% of the prison population.

  • UK: Over 93,000 men in prison (more than Wembley Stadium’s capacity).

Note: Many experienced abuse or have learning difficulties.

Source: CPRMB – Missing Men (Table 24)

Workplace Fatalities

Ten men every month die due to a workplace injury.

  • 2024/25: 118 men died due to fatal injury at work (95% of the total).

Source: Health and Safety Executive

Victims of Abuse

2 million men are victims of sexual assault, domestic abuse or stalking every year.

  • England & Wales: 2 million men affected annually (37% of total victims).

Note: Figures are from ONS, based on updated methodology.

Source: Office for National Statistics

Further information on a range of men and boys issues can be found at Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys, All-Party Parliamentary Group for Issues Affecting Men and Boys, Association of Male Health and Wellbeing. These facts are useful to help supplement any themes that you adopt. 

For requests on statistics, please contact Mark Brooks via [email protected]  or 07834 452357