The Men's Project:
Facts

In our work, we have discovered that it is often very difficult to find key statistics relating to men/boys in the north of Ireland unless you are a very competent statistician. This, inevitably, limits our understanding of their needs and the difficulties facing them.

This section seeks to address this situation by presenting links to five short fact sheets which look at specific aspects of being male in our community. These "Men in Northern Ireland" (MINI) factsheets were prepared by the ARK team within Queen's University Belfast and the University of Ulster. We hope that these links will help to expand your thinking.

Choose the topic below that you would like to view and click on the underlined link. However, these papers are stored in Portable Document Format (PDF) and you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader software installed on your computer to look at them.

[If you do not have this 'Reader' you can download a free copy of it by clicking on the button at the bottom of this page and then following the instructions on the screen. This process can take up to 20 minutes, so be prepared to wait. The good news is that it will be very useful to you in the future - many large reports are now available in this format on the internet for free ... so be patient! The Men's Project cannot guarantee that this software is safe from viruses or faults. Therefore, please make sure that you check this product before using it on your machine.]

FACT SHEETS AVAILABLE:

1. Men's Vital Statistics (Dec 2007)
2. Men and Work (Nov 2004)
3. Men's Health (Dec 2007)
4. Men and Education (Nov 2004)
5. Men and Family Life (Dec 2007)
   

OTHER LINKS WHICH MAY BE OF INTEREST:
There are also a number of local studies which research men's attitudes, values, needs and situation. Again, many of these reports are in Portable Document Format (PDF) and can be accessed online:

• Mystery Man? and Men in the Mirror - research updates on some of the findings from the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey's Men's Life and Times modules from 2000 and 2004. You may also be interested to read the keynote speech by Joan Harbison (then Chief Commissioner, Equality Commission for NI) which was delivered at the launch of the 2000 findings.
• Men's Attitudes and Values Research Project - organised by The Male Link and conducted with 632 males aged 15 years and over.
• Social Focus on Men - produced by National Statistics, this report provides an overview of the changing lives and roles of men in the United Kingdom in terms of their work, health, income, education, family situation and lifestyle.
• Men and Women in Ireland 2004 - key facts on men and women in Ireland compiled by the Central Statistics Office. Looks at employment, education, health, crime, transport, lifestyle and social cohesion.
• Fathers and Families: Research and Reflection on Key Questions - a report which collates research into the significance of fatherhood - particularly in the context of Irish family life.
• Focus Groups - the outcomes of brainstorming sessions on issues facing local men and barriers to their involvement in support programmes. Coordinated by The Male Link
• Men's Health - The Common Sense Approach - from a book by Irish journalist Joe Armstrong.
  
• Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey: Men's Responses - taken from the annual NILT Survey.
  
• Young Men and Suicide - a briefing paper by Nuala Brady.
• Other Websites - links from this site to other organisations.