Richard Reeves

Former government advisor and ex-director of the Demos think tank Richard Reeves says the social and economic world of men has been turned upside down and the basic social structures defining masculine maturity and success must be reinvented.

Reeves says men are losing ground in education, the workplace and increasingly missing out on family life. The position is worst for Black men. Men account for two out of three deaths from suicide or an overdose. Reeves argues that previous attempts to treat the issue have all made the same mistake of viewing the problem as a problem with men. He says the social structures defining masculinity and success have been shattered and we need a new model that is both pro-male and pro-equality.

Reeves is senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC. He was previously director of the Demos think tank and was a political advisor to the former Liberal Democrat deputy prime minister Nick Clegg. His previous books include Dream Hoarders and John Stuart Mill: Victorian Firebrand.