100 Social Issues in 2024

John Spacey, updated on April 12, 2024

A social issue is a problem that reduces the quality of life of people. This includes current problems and risks that represent a probability of future problems. The following are common examples of a social issue.

Ableism	Access to Education
Addiction	Ageism
Air Quality	Animal Rights
Anti-Competitive Practices	Bullying
Child Welfare	Children's Rights
Civility	Climate Change
Consumer Protection	Corporate Accountability
Cost of Education	Crime
Criminal Justice Reform	Cronyism
Culture Change	Debt Bondage
Disease	Economic Development
Environmental Destruction	Environmental Justice
Epidemics & Pandemics	Excessive Force
Extinctions	Food Deserts
Food Quality	Food Security
Fraud	Genetically Modified Food
Globalization & Trade	Government Spending
Healthcare Quality	High Interest Lending
Human Rights	Hunger
Immigration	Indigenous Rights
Inflation	Information Security
LGBT+ Rights	Living Conditions
Mental Health	Minimum Wage
Misinformation	Modern Slavery
Monopolies	Natural Disasters
Natural Resources	Nuclear Weapons
Obesity	Pesticides
Policing	Political Accountability
Political Stability	Pollution
Poverty	Prisoners' Rights
Privacy	Public Debt
Public Safety	Quality of Life
Racism	Recessions & Depressions
Refugees & Migrants	Reproductive Rights
Right to Know	Rights & Freedoms
Sexism	Social Inequality
Social Safety Net	Social Stability
Substance Abuse	Taxation
Technological Change	Terrorism
Tobacco & Nicotine Products	Toxic Waste
Unemployment	Urban Development
War	Women's Rights
Working Conditions	Workplace Safety

2024 Additions

The following issues were added as notable this year.

Academic Integrity	Algorithmic Bias
Artificial Intelligence Ethics	Cost of Living
Cybersecurity	Deepfakes
Electoral Reform	Mental Health Awareness
Nuclear Power	Parental Rights
Political Polarization	Right to Health
Social Media & Mental Health	Wage Theft

Social Justice Issues

Issues related to fairness to people.

Community Issues

Issues related to the quality of life in a place.

Global Issues

Issues that cross borders or that may require international cooperation to solve.

Economic Issues

Issues related to markets and finances.

Political Issues

Issues that relate to the political system and government policy.

Environmental Issues

Environmental destruction and issues related to nature. This includes environmental justice and the impact of environmental problems on communities.

Technology Issues

The impact of technology and rapid technological change on society, communities and culture.

Summary

Social issues are problems and injustices that impact people and communities. These include problems directly related to living conditions, opportunity, rights, freedoms, human dignity and mutual respect.

Discussion

Social issues include a number of daunting problems that have deep-rooted historical origins or involve fundamental human challenges that have always existed in human societies. In this context, it is tempting to engage in bikeshedding -- the tendency for groups to focus on solving trivial problems while neglecting larger problems.

Bikeshedding is an analogy to the management of a nuclear power station with safety and operational issues that spends half of an important management meeting talking about the construction of a new bicycle parking area. It is common for people who are familiar with executive management to identify with this analogy as a truism. In terms of social issues, bikeshedding could apply to focusing on minor issues such the semantics of politically correct speech while neglecting crushing and painful social problems that greatly influence quality of life.

Another well known obstacle to solving social issues is virtue signalling and the use of social issues as a tool of self-promotion. In this context, social issues that look the most virtuous or trendy get massive funding and attention while issues that create much human suffering may be neglected.

Next: Community Issues

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