- Proportion of young men not in work, education or training has risen almost four times as quickly as women since 2019
- Report backed by Labour MP and former Royal Marine Al Carns sets out plan to rescue Britain’s “Lost Boys”
Living their grandparent’s lifestyle is the best path to success for Britain’s boys, says a new report from a major think tank.
New analysis from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has found that a traditional and steady path through education, work and family life still stacks the odds in favour of success for young men in Britain.
The report Boy to Man is the latest chapter of the CSJ’s Lost Boys series, and finds that boys who follow the “Success Sequence” are dramatically more likely to enter the middle or top-income brackets and to describe themselves as having a positive financial situation.
The think tank found that those whose lifestyle their grandparents would recognise – completing education, entering work, marrying and then having children if they choose – were significantly more likely to say there were on a stable financial footing.
Polling of 2,100 UK adults for the CSJ found that men who followed the Success Sequence were more than twice as likely to describe themselves as “living comfortably” or “doing alright” when asked about their finances: 69 per cent did so, compared with just 28 per cent of those who did not follow it.
Of men aged 25 to 34, those who had completed the sequence were almost three times as likely to report being in a positive financial position compared to those who had not (86 per cent vs 33 per cent).
The findings suggest the Success Sequence is not only relevant to young men. One in twenty men and women aged 25 to 34 who followed the full sequence reported a household income below £21,000, compared to one in three of those who had completed none of the sequence.
The CSJ also examined Understanding Society data, finding that 87 per cent of respondents aged 28 to 34 who had completed education, secured employment and got married were in the middle or top third of the household income distribution.
The findings echo long‑running US studies showing that 97 per cent of young adults who follow the full sequence avoid poverty (defined as meeting a minimum income standard), while 86 per cent of those who completed the sequence reach the middle or top third of the household income distribution.
The CSJ said the repetition of the same pattern across UK longitudinal data, polling and US research suggests the Success Sequence remains a powerful predictor of later financial security.
The four steps of the Success Sequence are to finish school (at least to GCSE level), get a full-time job, get married, have children, if you want them.
The findings come as the young male NEET rate has risen by almost a third since 2019, compared with less than a tenth among young women. The CSJ revealed earlier this year that male pensioners are now also more likely to marry than men in their early twenties.
Since boys’ grandparents were starting out in life, marriage, youth employment and fertility rates have all fallen significantly.
Al Carns MP, former armed forces minister and Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak, said:
Boys need guidance. Not vague sympathy or slogans, as politics and society are often quick to give. Not a list of everything they are doing wrong. Guidance.
I admire the simplicity of approaches like the ‘Success Sequence’, and the genuine attempt to offer boys something that we can all get behind. That should not be controversial. If we want better men, we must help boys become them.
Luke Taylor, Senior Researcher at the CSJ, said:
“oo much of the debate around the role of boys continues to focus on the problems. Phrases like ‘toxic masculinity’ and the ‘manosphere’ dominate public discourse, but we still fail to recognise the unique contributions and positive attributes of young men.
At best, this leads us to misunderstand them. At worst, it leads us to demonising them. It creates a script for young men that is a series of ‘do nots’ rather than a positive and ambitious vision for what being a man can be. Boys need fewer lectures about restrictive behaviour and negative masculinity, and more guidance about what a good and stable life could look like.
The CSJ sets out a number of recommendations for how to spread the Success Sequence including:
- Schools should teach the Success Sequence as part of the national RSHE curriculum.
- Introduce a new Right to Sport for all secondary pupils, guaranteeing at least two hours of extracurricular sport each week.
- Open a new route for 16-year-olds to leave formal education, conditional on having a full-time work contract and attaining at least a 4 in their English and Maths GCSE.
- Expand initiatives to boost the number male mentors, including male teachers, coaches, pastoral workers, mentors and local professionals.
- Expand the Youth Jobs Grant into a Future Workforce Credit, providing 30 per cent of a NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) young person’s annual salary to employers – half upfront, half after six months’ continued employment.
- Create a competitive 12‑month military service year for 18‑year‑olds as a prestigious post‑school option.
- Reverse the decline of traditional male spaces including across pubs, churches, youth clubs, labour unions – by match‑funding a new Youth Infrastructure Fund with private philanthropy.
- Introduce fully transferable tax allowances and a wedding grant for lower‑income couples to support marriage.
Methodology:
To examine the Success Sequence, Whitestone Insight conducted a representative survey of 2,108 UK adults online from 22nd to 24th May 2026. Respondents were grouped according to whether they had followed the “Success Sequence” – completing at least GCSEs, gaining a full-time job, getting married and then having children – and then compared to those who had completed none of the sequence. Respondents are classed as being in a positive financial situation if they said they were “living comfortably” or “doing alright” when asked about their household finances (other options available were “just about getting by”, “finding it quite difficult” and “finding it very difficult”).
The CSJ analysed self-reported household income responses within the polling, including a separate analysis of 25 to 34-year-olds to test whether the pattern persisted among younger adults. The CSJ also analysed Understanding Society data for individuals observed between the ages of 28 and 34. Completion of education is defined as achieving at least GCSE-level qualifications. Household income is calculated as average net household labour income, adjusted for household size and inflation. The release also draws on existing research by the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for Family Studies. As with all observational analysis, the findings should be read as evidence of a strong association rather than proof that any single life decision guarantees a particular outcome.