Men in figures

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Households and families

Not flying the nest
In England, young men were more likely than young women to live with their parents.

• In 2005, 57% of men aged 20-24 still lived with their parents compared with 38% of women of the same age.
• The rate for slightly older men aged 25-29 is lower, at 23%, but still double that of women in the same age group, 11% of which lived with their parents.

Living alone

• The rate of men aged 25-44 living alone has gone up by 9% since 1987, reaching 16% in 2005.
• For men aged 45-64 the rate stood at 17% in 2005, which also represents a 9% rise since 1987.

Living together

• The percentage of non-married men under the age of 60 cohabiting in Great Britain increased between 1986 and 2004 from 11% to 24%.
• In 2004/05, 36% of cohabiting men were divorced, 23% were separated, another 23% were single, and 12% were widowed.

Sexual activity
Men under 25 years are more sexually promiscuous than those over 25.

• In 2004/05 more than a third of men aged under 25 in Great Britain reported having more than one sexual partner in the previous year.
• 53% of men aged 20-24 said they had been faithful to their partner throughout the previous year.
• 71% of men aged 25-34 also said they had been faithful to their partner.
• 85% of 35-44 year olds said they had been faithful.
• Men aged from 45-49 were the most faithful, with 88% having sex with the same partner throughout the previous year.

At work

Career choices
The most important factors influencing men’s career choices in 2004 were:

• job security (36%)
• level of interest in the work (26%)
• good work-life balance (21%)
• good pay (9%)
• opportunities for promotion (7%)
• and chance to help other people (1%).

Working hours
More than double the number of men compared to that of women work long hours regularly.

• 23% of working men work over 48 hours a week, compared to only 11% of working women.
• Only 18.2% of men in full-time employment work flexible hours compared to 28.5% of women in full-time employment.
• Of those working part-time, 15.8% of men work flexible hours compared to 27.3% of women.

On the way to work
In 2004/05 70% of men aged over 15 read one of the daily newspapers.

• The most widely read daily is The Sun, read by 1 in 5 men over 15.
• The Daily Mirror is read by 13%.
• The daily with the lowest readership in 2004/05 is the Financial Times, read by just 1% of men aged over 15.

In education

• In the last 20 years the number of men teaching at secondary school level has gone down by more than a third from 152,000 teachers in 1082/83 to just 101,000 in 2002/03.
• In 2002/03 there were 128,000 women teaching at secondary school level – 5 women for every 4 men.
• In primary schools there are 5 times more women teachers than men.

Health

Long lives
In 2004 life expectancy at birth in the United Kingdom was 77 years for males and 81 years for females.

Smokers’ intentions
76% of male smokers with children under the age of 16 expressed a desire to quit smoking for health-related issues.

• 39% of them also said they wanted to quit because it harmed their children
• 32% because they wanted to avoid smoke-related illnesses
• 21% because of family pressure
• 14% because of financial reasons
• 10% because of present health problems
• and 3% for other reasons.

Drinking habits
 In 2004/05 39% of men admitted to exceeding recommended levels of alcohol consumption by drinking more than 4 units of alcohol on at least one day in the previous week.

• 22% admitted to having drank more than 8 units.
• Younger men under 45 are heavier drinkers than those over 45, with almost one third of them admitting to going over the 8 unit level on at least one occasion in the previous week.
• Those over 65 are the most moderate drinkers with only 7% drinking over 8 units.

Exercise In 2003One third of all  males achieved the recommended levels of physical activity, which required participating in moderately intense activity for at least 30 minutes on five or more occasions a week, compared with 1 in 5 of women.

Suicide
Suicide rates are much higher among men than women.

• In 2004 16.8 in every 100,000 men committed suicide, while among women the rate was 5.9.
• The rate is highest among men aged 25 to 44.

                                                                                             Rates per 100,000 population

Crime

Victims of crime

• Men in England and Wales were almost twice as likely as women to be a victim of violent crime (5% for men compared with 3% for women).
• Young men aged 16 to 24 were most at risk in 2004/05.

Young men and criminal behaviour
In 2004, 6% of all 17 year old boys in England and Wales were found guilty of indictable offences, by far the highest rate for any age group, and five times the corresponding rate for girls.

Worried about crime
Women are more worried about a range of crimes than men, with the exception of theft of, and from, a car.

• 13% of men aged 16 and over said they ‘very worried’ about car theft,
• 10% said they were worried about burglary
• and 8% about violent crime.