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120 Examples of Modern Issues

John Spacey, updated on October 10, 2024

Modern issues are current social, economic and environmental problems. These include injustice, environmental degradation, health and quality of life issues that impact billions of people on a global basis.

Definition of Modern Issues

Problems, challenges, concerns, opportunities and risks that are relevant to contemporary life.

Modern issues are often related to technological, economic and social change. Other issues are long standing problems such as poverty that have not been solved despite the increased technical capabilities and resources of modern societies. The following are common modern issues.

All (120)

Social (28)

Political (8)

Global (8)

Environmental (21)

Social Justice (21)

Economic (11)

Technology & Media (24)

Access to Education	Access to Loans
Affordable Housing	Aging Populations
Animal Testing	Animal Welfare
Arms Control & Nonproliferation	Artificial Intelligence Ethics
Biodiversity & Extinctions	Biotechnology Ethics
Bullying	Campaign Finance Reform
Child Welfare	Children’s Rights
Chronic Health Problems	Clean Energy
Climate Adaptation	Climate Change
Coral Reefs	Corporate Accountability
Corporate Influence	Corporate Transparency
Corruption	Cost of Living
Crime	Criminal Justice Reform
Cyberbullying	Cybercrime
Cybersecurity	Data Security
Deepfakes	Deforestation
Desertification	Digital Literacy
Disability Rights	Disaster Preparedness
Disinformation	Domestic Terrorism
Drug Policy Reform	Economic Problems
Economic Stagnation	Ecosystem Degradation
Elder Care	Endangered Species
Environmental Justice	Fake News
Financial Access	Food Security
Fossil Fuels	Free Speech
Freedom of Movement	Gender Equality
Gerrymandering	Globalization
Government Accountability	Government Surveillance
Gun Violence	Habitat Fragmentation
Hate Crimes	Health Disparities
Healthcare Access	Healthcare Affordability
Homelessness	Human Rights
Hunger & Malnutrition	Immigration Reform
Income Tax Evasion	Indigenous Rights
Industrial Agriculture	Inflation
Infrastructure Decay	Internet Censorship
Invasive Species	LGBTQ+ Rights
Manipulated Media	Marine Plastic
Media Literacy	Media Overconsumption
Media Ownership	Mental Health
Minimum Wage	Misinformation
Monopolies	Nature Conservation
Net Neutrality	Nuclear Waste
Nuclear Weapons	Obesity
Overfishing	Peace & Security
Police Accountability	Political Accountability
Political Instability	Political Polarization
Pollution	Poverty
Prison Reform	Privacy
Public Safety & Security	Racial Profiling
Refugee Crises	Regressive Taxation
Reproductive Rights	Social Isolation
Social Media Impact	Social Safety Nets
Space Junk	Student Debt
Systemic Racism	Tax Avoidance
Technological Change	Technology Related Job Loss
Terrorism	Trade Policy
Urban Green Spaces	Urban Heat Islands
Wars & Conflicts	Wildlife Conservation
Workers Rights	Youth Unemployment

Themes

The following are common themes that emerge amongst modern issues.

Often solvable given the vast resources and technological advancement of societies but that they aren't solved due to a lack of political agreement and cooperation.

Technology changes life quickly such that society, culture and institutions struggle to shape this change in some positive way.

Societies that experience unprecedented levels of wealth, resources and technological capabilities can still produce poverty and social misery such as housing insecurity.

Long running processes such as globalization whereby countries are increasingly interconnected are accelerating due to technology and increasing levels of international cooperation.

Modern Age

When people say modern issues they are typically referring to contemporary issues that affect living people. Keep in mind that the modern-age itself starts as early as 1500.

Summary

Modern issues are persistent issues that have remained relevant in recent decades. This can be contrasted with current issues that can come and go with time or longer term issues that are a basic feature of the human condition or human societies.