New report data highlights challenges and disparities among men and boys in Greater Boston
Boys and Men in Greater Boston report notes race, income and education as exacerbating factors in gaps on key measures
March 6, 2025
Boston—A new report from Boston Indicators, in partnership with the American Institute for Boys and Men, finds concerning trends in health, mental health, education, and employment, particularly for men lower in the socioeconomic ladder. The report, Boys & Men in Greater Boston: Challenges in Education, Employment, and Health, finds a widening gap between men and women in health and education and a widening differential among men in employment and wages.
“As I have often noted, equity is not a zero-sum game, and that is true across genders and races. Just as we continue to seek to close gender gaps in areas like wage equity for women, we need to look critically at data that show many men and boys are falling behind their peers academically and economically,” said Boston Foundation President and CEO Lee Pelton. “Developing ambitious ideas that support men’s well-being will only build upon and strengthen all the other dimensions of our equity work.”
“This report demonstrates that Greater Boston is not immune to national trends that show concerning gender gaps, especially among those who are most disadvantaged, namely lower-income and Black and Latino populations,” said Richard Reeves, President of the American Institute for Boys and Men. “The ripple effects of these issues––whether in health, education, or employment––impact our families, communities, and workplaces. We rise—or fall—together.”
The report focuses on four key areas: health, mental health, education, and employment and wages, finding both areas where boys and men lag behind girls and women and areas where societal changes have widened gaps among groups of men, disproportionately harming men with less education and lower incomes.
Health and Mental Health
The report opens on issues of health and mental health, finding that men in Massachusetts have a life expectancy at birth five years shorter than women, with even larger gaps for Black and Latino men. Men have higher rates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease and a much higher likelihood of dying of injury or overdose.
A striking gap also emerges in the data around depression and suicide. While women suffer from higher rates of depression than men, the suicide rate for men was nearly five times higher in Massachusetts. Adult men also rank higher on measures of isolation and loneliness.
Education
Notable gaps open between boys and girls over time when it comes to education. While Massachusetts students consistently score above the national average in reading and math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), boys’ scores fall relative to girls in the state as they move through the school system, and strikingly, the gap between high-performing and low-performing boys has widened sharply in recent years. A similar gap exists in boys’ high school graduation rates when the data compare higher-income and lower-income school districts.
College enrollment and degree attainment highlight other notable gender gaps. Female high school graduates are fifteen percent more likely to pursue higher education than males (71 percent to 56 percent). Also, while two out of three young women in Massachusetts have completed a bachelor’s degree, only 53 percent of young men have, including 34 percent of young Black men and 42 percent of young Latino men.
Employment and Wages
These gaps in education are exacerbated by changes in the workforce. Boston’s economy has shifted away from manufacturing and toward professional services, health care, and education—industries where men remain underrepresented and where college degrees are often more critical. That transformation away from manufacturing jobs correlates with a decline in the percentage of men without degrees in the workforce and stagnation in wages for men without degrees.
Here, too, the racial gaps are striking. Black and Latino men without degrees earn 35 to 45 percent less than White men.
A gender gap also persists in social mobility – men have overall lower rates of upward mobility than women, but there are significant differences by race. Of two boys in Greater Boston born into low-income families, the White boy reaches the 48th income percentile by age 27, while his Black peer reaches only the 39th percentile. Black girls born poor reach the 46th percentile, almost as high as White boys, and compared to the 49th percentile for White girls.
The report closes with an important note: several organizations and initiatives are already working to improve educational outcomes, reduce isolation, and increase economic mobility for men and boys in Greater Boston. Enhancing those efforts while continuing important work in the many areas where progress for women remains essential.
Ultimately, investing in men is not about returning to a past era or competing with women’s progress,” the report concludes. “Gender-focused work can, and should, move forward on multiple fronts at once. This is about embracing a forward-looking vision in which men are healthy, happy, and purposeful— for their own sake and for the good of families and communities across Greater Boston. By integrating effective programs with thoughtful policies, we can create a city where both men and women rise together, each contributing fully to a more equitable and vibrant future.”
The report is now available from BostonIndicators.org.