50 Examples of Social Challenges

John Spacey, February 16, 2023

A social challenge is a sustained and persistent social problem that is faced by an individual or group. This can be contrasted with social issues that include more general problems faced by all of society. All people face difficulties as part of the human condition and human experience. However, social challenges go beyond this whereby an individual or group faces harsh problems that most people never experience. The following are illustrative examples of a social challenge.

Access to affordable housing	Access to childcare
Access to clean water	Access to financial resources e.g. can’t get a mortgage
Ageism	Bullying
Child labor	Child neglect
Child welfare	Corruption
Cyberbullying	Discrimination
Domestic violence	Education access
Education quality	Elder abuse
Environmental injustice e.g. exposure to excessive pollution due to poverty	Family conflict or estrangement
Food insecurity	Government surveillance
Harassment & intimidation	Healthcare access
Healthcare affordability	Homelessness
Human trafficking	Hunger
Immigration status	Inadequate housing
Legal injustice	Malnutrition
Mental health stigma	Natural disasters
Police misconduct	Political instability
Political repression	Poor air quality
Poverty	Racism
Religious intolerance	Sexism
Social exclusion	Social injustice i.e. injustice related to rights and freedoms
Social isolation	Tax burden e.g. regressive taxation
Transportation access	Unemployment
Victim of a crime	War & conflict e.g. becoming a refugee
Working poor i.e. low wages	Youth unemployment and a lack of opportunity

As the term suggests, social challenges, relate to society, culture and social processes. There are other types of adversity such as injuries that aren't social in nature.

50 Examples of Social Challenges

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