TEN 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 2024.

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.

(1) 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.

(2) Mortality

1 in 5 UK men do not live to 65.

(3) Suicide

14 men die every day by suicide in the UK (three in every four) with a suicide rate increasing for the past four years. The suicide rate in England is the highest this century. Over 5,000 men every year die by suicide across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

(4) University Entry

In September 2024: 34,800 fewer 18-year-old UK boys started university in September than girls of the same age –  119,730 (43.6% of total) and 153,750 women (56.4%).

(5) GCSEs

In 2023/24, 67.5% of 16-year-old boys receive Grade 5 GCSEs in English and Maths (73.6% girls). By 2025, boys have had worse exam results than girls for 35 years. 

(6) Exclusions and NEETS

In 2022/23, 6,481 boys were excluded from school (69% of the total).

The latest NEET figures (16- to 24-year-olds) produced by the Office for National Statistics shows that for the UK in April to June 2025:

• 224,000 young men (16-24) are unemployed (Apr-Jun 2025) and, 273,000 economically inactive.
• 140,000 young women are unemployed and 310,000 economically inactive.
• Young men make up 62% of young people who are unemployed.

(7) Rough Sleeping

The number of men sleeping rough in England has increased – and is at its highest since 2017. 3,214 men were found to be sleeping rough in Autumn 2024  in England. Men make up at least 83% of rough sleepers. 

(8) Prison

There are over 90,000 men in prison – enough to fill Wembley Stadium. They make up 96% of the prison population.

 (9) Domestic Abuse

21.7% of men said they have been a victim of domestic abuse in their lifetime (5.1 million). They consist of 41% of all victims.

Over a ten year period, 120 men have been killed in by a partner/ex-partner  13 men died at the hands of their partner or ex-partner compared to 56 women. (ONS 2022/23).

 (10) Sexual Violence/Abuse

275,000 men were estimated to have been victims of sexual assault in 2021/22* (798,000 women) . 1.3 million men in total have been a victim of sexual assault since they were 16. In addition, 7,000 men were raped or victims of attempted rape (132,000 women) in 2019/20.  57,000 men in total have been raped or been victims of rapes since they were 16.

*Oct 21 to Mar 22

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, Men and Boys Coalition . 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