The number of men reporting that they have no close friends has jumped from 3% to 15% since 1990, according to the Survey Center on American Life (SCAL).
While female friendships tend to happen ‘face-to-face’ and be based around talk, male friendships are more club-like (Think: shared activities like 5-a-side football). However, as men enter middle age, they can often withdraw from these sorts of activities.
There is also an increasing lack of “third spaces” – places that are not home or work – "like churches, rotary clubs, proper ‘local’ pubs," – where both men (and women) can meet to make and maintain friendships.
How can sport help tackle the structural problems associated with the male ‘friendship recession’?
One example that caught my eye was from FanHub, who discovered something really interesting amongst their users - prompting them to launch a new feature on their app.
Download The Athlete's Voice by 4CAST to go beyond sport and into the world of business and entrepreneurship.
.png)
