Whataboutery

When we say that boys and young men are underfunded, we recognise that some people may ask: what about everyone else? It is a fair question. Many communities and causes remain under-resourced, and The Invisible Field, a joint report from Movember and NPC, is not arguing that boys and young men should be prioritised at the expense of any other group. Rather, it argues that this is an area of need that is currently under-recognised and underfunded as a distinct field.

We believe that supporting boys and young men is not separate from achieving better outcomes for other groups in society. As The Bridgespan Group recently highlighted, ‘Advancing gender equity means also supporting men and boys.’

Our research shows that support for boys and young men already exists across mental health, education, youth work, community provision, violence prevention and employability. But it is rarely understood or funded specifically around boys and young men. The result is not simply too little money, but too little visibility, coordination, specialist infrastructure and shared language. In practice, that limits how strategic, connected, and effective funding can be.

We exist in an increasingly divided world where people may see our advocacy for funding for one group against funding for others. It isn’t. At NPC, part of our mission is to grow the impact economy, and we believe this growth can lead to more funding distributed to a range of important causes and to groups facing challenging circumstances, including boys and young men.

If we want to grow the impact economy, we need to identify overlooked needs, strengthen underdeveloped fields, and direct more money and learning where they can have the greatest effect. That means being able to hold lots of ideas at once: many parts of society are underfunded, and some issues still lack the recognition and infrastructure needed even to be funded well.