Young men aren't failing America — America is failing to give them purpose

What could two men from entirely different generations, politics, and backgrounds possibly share in common? A mutual concern for America’s future and the young men growing up in it.

Our shared lived experience—an experience that we’re seeing become less frequent—is driving our concern as we see it move from the norm to the exception. As young men, both of us volunteered. It instilled in us a sense of pride, duty, identity and connection. For Neil, it was a summer with a nonprofit to engage with kids in a small low-income fishing village in Labrador, Canada. For Alex, it was time spent as a Boy Scout learning the power of collective action and shared responsibility to community. 

These service experiences were formative in shaping who we are. However, as volunteering declines and isolation increases, opportunities for connection through service are not top of mind for most young American men. 

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Across classrooms, workplaces and online, we’re seeing what happens when young men become untethered from their communities. The data alone tells a powerful story. Among 18-35 year-olds, men are significantly more likely to feel lonely compared to their female counterparts. Fifteen percent of young men today report having no close friends, compared to 3 percent in the 1990s. Perhaps most alarmingly, suicide rates among men in 2021 were four times higher than those of women. And the most common last words men use to describe themselves before they take their own lives are "worthless" and "useless." 

People are taking note, but we need to take action. This year, California launched a statewide initiative to shine a spotlight on this growing emergency and, more importantly, an unexpected solution: volunteering.

Volunteering gives men a structured way to build relationships and feel part of something larger than themselves. Research shows that young people who volunteer show significantly better well-being. Youth who volunteer have 25% lower anxiety, are 35% less likely to have behavioral problems, and are 66% more likely to be "flourishing" compared to non-volunteers.

IF YOU WANT TO HELP AMERICA, START SERVING

Yet in 2023, only 34.1%  of young people ages 16 to 17 volunteered in the past year. Consider a recent NBC poll in which Gen Z men ranked making their family or community proud and using their talents to help others among the top five markers of success. Volunteering is one of the few cost-free ways to live out these values and create purpose and connection as a result.

So, what must we do to reconnect young men to community through service? We need to rebuild the civic infrastructure around volunteering so that people understand where and how to get involved. We also need to show young people that volunteering isn’t just good for their communities – it’s profoundly good for them too.

Points of Light found that 44% of people who want to volunteer are unsure how to get involved and where to find opportunities, or say they cannot find opportunities near where they live or work. 

That’s why Points of Light is calling for a collective national response—to elevate the value of volunteering, reduce these barriers by meeting young people where they are, and ultimately double the number of volunteers by 2035.

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Already, the organization—whose mission is to increase volunteerism around the world—engages 4 million volunteers annually. But expanding our volunteer infrastructure through public and private investment is critical to achieving this goal.

Every young man should have access to opportunities that foster purpose, pride and belonging. That could mean corporations putting real dollars and time where it matters, offering paid volunteer hours for workers to mentor and serve alongside young men. It could mean schools–from primary to post-secondary–community centers and youth organizations strengthening the programs that make volunteering accessible: from service-learning in classrooms to after-school and weekend opportunities.

As America approaches its 250th birthday, it raises the question: what kind of nation do we want the next generation to inherit? How can we ensure it’s one that doesn’t leave anyone behind? 

Governments, institutions and leaders must come together to make service central to American life. In turn, this will build a culture where a generation of young men feels connected to one another, proud of their roles and rooted in the communities they serve.

No crisis can be solved overnight, but the choices we make right now will determine the future we hand off to all young people. We can either continue to watch our young men drift further into isolation, or we can offer them a life raft—an opportunity that we know will work.

Together, we can help the next generation of young men find purpose and belonging—one act of service at a time.

Neil Bush is an international businessman and serves as chair of the Points of Light board of directors, where he expands his father’s (President George H.W. Bush) vision of inspiring, equipping and mobilizing volunteers to increase capacity for vital social services and for finding innovative solutions that lift individuals, strengthen families, and renew communities. Neil chairs both the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation and the Bush China U.S. Relations Foundation and serves on the advisory boards of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M, the Houston Salvation Army and the Asia Society Texas Center.