Newsom signs young men’s mental health order as Dems struggle with group

As Democrats try to win over male voters, California Governor Gavin Newsom is putting a focus on the mental health of young men

Newsom signed an executive order Wednesday based on the notion of a rising male loneliness epidemic and a crisis of masculinity

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, men make up nearly 80 percent of suicides in the U.S.

despite accounting for around half of the population. Newsom said in a statement

Too many young men and boys are suffering in silence, disconnected from community, opportunity, and even their own families

This action is about turning that around. It's about showing every young man that he matters

and there's a path for him of purpose, dignity, work, and real connection

The governor's office says the lack of mental health support and gender stereotypes

have perpetuated a culture where men and boys feel unable to ask for assistance

or support leading to higher rates of disconnection, suicide, drug use, crime

and lack of participation in the workforce. So here's what the order does

It directs the California Health and Human Services Agency to make recommendations to address the suicide crisis among young men

It aims to provide pathways for young men to enter education or the workforce

This includes identifying opportunities to promote and enhance participation in service programs

and improve recruitment of men as teachers and school counselors. This latest initiative comes alongside the state announcing a million investment to support apprenticeship training in the building trades In the wake of the 2024 presidential election Democrats are trying to figure out where they

went wrong with young men. According to data compiled by the Associated Press

in the 2020 election, President Joe Biden won men ages 18 through 44 by seven percentage points

Just four years later, President Donald Trump won the group by eight percentage points

The Democratic Party commissioned a $20 million program known as the Speaking with American Men Project to see how they can win back young men

Newsom is a possible 2028 Democratic presidential candidate. On his podcast, This is Gavin Newsom, he's been vocal about Democrats needing to embrace this group

In this last election, obviously so much focus on his outreach in terms of focusing on the quote unquote manosphere, focusing on sports, more of a hyper masculine frame of outreach and engagement

But with the DNC's lack of engagement to young men, non-existent, doesn't exist in the Democratic Party, hasn't in the past

The press release announcing this latest executive order also addresses the crisis of loneliness facing young men

The order points out that nearly one in four men under 30 years old report having no close friends

That's a fivefold increase since 1990. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kaylee Carey

For an in-depth look into the struggles of young men, check out Straight Arrow News three-part series on the crisis of masculinity by heading to san.com

or the SAN app in searching Crisis of Masculinity