With Netflix’s Adolescence now sparking a debate about Andrew Tate and toxic masculinity, I argue in my Times column today that Tate-hate distracts attention from the real question: why does he have an audience? And where are the dads? Some 22% of UK kids have no father at home. But that’s 7% for those at the top - and 60% for white kids. The unequal distribution of fathers is an issue, and one I discussed with Ayesha Hazarika on Times Radio.
I recently read The Two Parent Privilege by Melissa Kearney, a thought-provoking book full of data that no one has compiled for the UK. It struck me that you could replicate this by querying the Census data: the below is the result. I’ve never seen this graph before and was quite startled to see how stark the difference is.
The family is the first, best and cheapest source of health, wealth and education. Yet to discuss it is a political taboo. The picture becomes even more stark when you account for ethnicity differences, but that’s for another Substack…
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