Created Equal

It’s fundamental to the American promise that we are all created equal. That promise, however, is broken from birth. Race, geography, economic status, and more have profound impacts on a child’s chances for prosperity, even life. Being born a boy or a girl is perhaps the most consequential of all.

Girls face threats from men and from a media that exploits their fears and insecurities, and then, as women, they enter a working world where the deck is stacked against them. Boys face threats, too, and these have been getting more ominous in recent years. Deaths of despair stalk boys and young men, and they are ill-prepared for these challenges by a culture that mistakes braggadocio for masculinity, and aggression for strength.

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Outlook at Birth by Gender

Girl

3x more likely to experience abuse

3x more likely to self-harm

Will earn 84¢ to 93¢ for every dollar a man earns

2x more likely to be passed up for a promotion as a parent

Boy

Less likely to graduate college

2x more likely to overdose

3.5x more likely to commit suicide

9x more likely to go to jail

Sources: Girl: CDC, Forbes, Psychiatry Research, Pew Research Center;

Boy: The Brookings Institution, Pew Research Center, AFSP, Federal Bureau of Prisons.