“There is a crisis of masculinity in this country, a search for what it means to be a young man growing up in Britain today. The root of this problem is in the home.

“2.5 million children in the UK do not live with a father figure, representing one in five of all dependent children…

“There is a well-established link between absent fathers and the criminal justice system.  Previous reports have shown that three-quarters (76 per cent) of children in custody said they had an absent father and a third had an absent mother

“One study cited by the London Violence Reduction Unit estimated that 60 per cent of boys whose fathers are in custody go on to offend.

“Boys who lose their fathers within the first five years of their life have significantly worse mental health outcomes in their early to mid-twenties

from Lost Boys Report by Centre For Social Justice March 2025