PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Henry Herrera
Phone: +1-301-801-0608
Email: info@menandboys.net

Italy Confronts Ongoing Gender Gaps Affecting Men and Boys

September 9, 2025 – Italy’s men and boys are facing a growing crisis. From shorter lives to higher risks of homelessness and suicide, the evidence shows deep gender gaps that have existed for years and continue to be overlooked.

Education:

Nearly 60% of Italy’s university graduates are women (1). Women also hold tertiary qualifications at much higher rates—37.6% compared to just 24.4% for men (2). Even at the upper secondary level, women surpass men: 65.7% vs. 60.3% (3).

Health: 

In 2024, life expectancy stood at 82.2 years for men and 86.1 for women in Italy’s north-east (4). Adult mortality shows the gap even more sharply: 67.4 per 1,000 for men vs. 37.9 per 1,000 for women (5).

Child Labor: 

A 2024 Save the Children study found that 65.4% of minors in child labor were boys, nearly two-thirds (6).

Homicide: 

Italy’s homicide rate is 1.95 per 100,000, but the breakdown reveals gendered risk: 0.76 for men vs. 0.39 for women (7).

Suicide:

Men die by suicide at a rate nearly three times higher than women—10.5 per 100,000 vs. 3.6 (8)(9).

Homelessness:

An Istat survey shows that 86% of Italy’s homeless are men, underscoring the disproportionate toll on males (10).

Workplace: 

In 2022, men accounted for 411,000 accidents and 970 fatalities, compared to 286,000 accidents and 120 fatalities for women (11).

Conclusion: 

Italy must recognize these long-standing gender gaps and take action to ensure men and boys are part of the nation’s equality agenda.

The International Council for Men and Boys is a non-governmental organization that is working to celebrate the contributions of men to society and to end the 12 sex disparities that affect men and boys around the world. Achieving #GenderEqualityForMen also will benefit women. https://www.menandboys.net/

Links:

1.Women in Italy – Wikipedia

2.https://op.europa.eu/webpub/eac/education-and-training-monitor/en/country-reports/italy.html#:~:text=In%202023%2C%2030.6%25%20of%20people%20aged%2025%2D34,in%20Italy%20(12.7%20pps%20against%2011.2%20pps).

3.https://www.istat.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/2.pdf#:~:text=In%202022%2C%2063.0%25%20of%2025%2D64%2Dyear%2Dolds%20have%20at,share%20of%20graduates%20is%2060.3%25%20(Figure%202).

4.https://www.statista.com/statistics/568999/life-expectancy-at-birth-in-italy-by-macro-region/

5.https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/indicator/sp-dyn-amrt?gender=male

6.https://english.news.cn/20240612/0f662205dfdf401babb674bfb192c700/c.html#:~:text=At%20least%2053.8%20percent%20of%20minors%20involved,male%2C%20and%205.7%20percent%20had%20migrant%20origins.

7.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homicide_statistics_by_gender

8.https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.SUIC.MA.P5

9.https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.SUIC.FE.P5

10.https://www.feantsa.org/download/it-proof-read-new-template124857004325179404.pdf

11.https://www.italianinsider.it/?q=node/11641#:~:text=The%20age%20group%20most%20prone,and%20120%20deaths%20for%20women.