Rachel Reeves’ budget centred on a commitment to maintain her fiscal rules with some cuts and increases in spending here and some changes to tax there (£26 billion worth).  The general thrust of the Budget had two main elements: one political and one economic. The political element can be encapsulated in the doubling of the fiscal headroom to be achieved by the end of this parliament in time for some pre-election largesse perhaps. The economic element was a renewed commitment to sustain promised levels of investment in order to match private enterprise with public ambition (and I quote). The markets’ initial reaction has been positive with 10 year gilt rates down 0.5 percentage points and the stock market up and the pound up around half a cent against the dollar.

So was this budget good news for men and boys? The answer has to be a qualified yes. There were a number of welcome measures contained in the Chancellor’s speech. First and foremost were the proposed changes to boost employment. Investing £820 million in the youth guarantee and getting rid of the need for SMEs to pay anything for apprenticeship training for under 25s are potential real positives. Two thirds of NEETs are young men. Measures that get this group and the young unemployed back into the labour market are greatly needed. CPRMB’s own analysis has shown that for the Government to hit its 80% employment rate target some one million more men need to find jobs.

Also to be welcomed is the increase from 21% to 40% the tax on online gambling. Too many men fall victim to the addictive lure of gambling and disincentives such as increasing tax is a positive move to reduce harms caused by this industry. We know that gambling addiction, and the concomitant financial distress and debt it can lead to, is a cause of male suicide and self harm. With suicide levels increasing (more than 5000 men died by their own hand in 2024) anything that can help reduce this rate is clearly a good thing. On which point the announcement of the creation of 250 new neighbourhood health facilities is very welcome news. Too many men find it difficult to engage with the health service so measures that bring support to them will help reduce preventable disease. These services also need to fit in with men’s working patterns that often involve shift work and working through normal GP surgery hours - something the Men’s Health Strategy has promised.

The other major announcement involved more devolution. Reeves said that some £13 billion would be devolved to seven regional mayors and local authorities to invest in skills, local enterprise and other local priorities. There was also an additional £370m for the Northern Ireland executive, £505m for the Welsh government and £820m for the Scottish government. Devolution gives power back to local people increasing local agency and autonomy and so driving better outcomes for everyone including men and boys. It is to be hoped that many local community groups such as Andy’s Man Sheds, Space North East and Lads need Dads will benefit.

One notable missing was any mention of increasing paternity pay/parental leave for men. This despite the success of this year’s Dads Strike in raising the salience of the issue and considerable support for such a move in the International Men’s Day debate last week.

So all-in-all, like most Budgets, this one is a little bit of a curate’s egg. However on balance there is enough that is positive for the men and boys’ agenda to give it a thumbs up.