Social

WHAT'S NEXT?: In the years to come, social commerce will become more widespread and the level of personalization will improve with advanced AI solutions & chatbots. The number of worldwide social media users is projected to grow from 2.1 billion in 2016 to 2.5 billion by 2018.

• [New] NHSX is developing a Data Strategy for Health and Social Care in Autumn 2020, which will aim to build on the permissive approach to data sharing for care seen during the coronavirus response, while still protecting the absolute need for patient confidentiality.
• [New] A strong sense of white identification predicts negative attitudes toward immigration and positive attitudes toward Social Security, Medicare, and the policies of the Trump administration.
• [New] To help drive the consistent adoption of social value across central government, a new social value framework developed by the Cabinet Office is due to be released in summer 2020 and will give social value a mandatory minimum weighting of 10% in all government contract awards going forward.
• [New] By 2020, more than 5 billion people will use social media platforms - that' s roughly two-thirds of the world's population.
• Whilst the EU, if the current employment trend were to continue, may be on track to meet its Europe 2020 target of a 75% employment rate, progress in reaching the target of lifting 20 million people out of the risk of poverty or social exclusion has been slower and has occurred with a lag.
• Mass inoculation with an effective vaccine, not expected until sometime next year, coupled with a return to activities where social distancing is not an option, will be the crucial steps to unlocking steady economic growth.
• Over the next five years, the health care and social assistance industry is forecast to have the largest employment growth of all industries in Western Australia, with the number of disability and aged care workers needing to double to meet demand.
• Society faces a dual challenge of increasing supplies of energy to meet the demand of a growing world population while also addressing the risks of climate change.
• Continued, widespread melting of glaciers during the coming century will lead to floods, water shortages for millions of people, and sea level rise threatening and destroying coastal communities and habitats.
• Tackling the climate emergency will require significant investment at all levels of society, with Dorset Council needing to invest large sums of money over the next 20 years just to become a Carbon Neutral Council.
• Over the past year, regional Federal Reserve banks in San Francisco, Dallas and New York outlined potential financial losses, economic disruption and slowing productivity in their communities.
• In the haste to provide new protected spaces for residents, entire communities have been excluded from public process, leaving little opportunity for discourse over the fact that people of color are criminalized in the name of social distancing.
• UNDP's COVID-19 crisis response is designed to help decision-makers look beyond recovery, towards 2030, making choices and managing complexity and uncertainty in four main areas: governance and agency, social protection, green economy, and digital disruption.
• The secondary effects of climate change, meaning the likely responses of human societies to rapidly changing climatic conditions, including the increased probability for nuclear conflict, are an even greater threat to the continuity of human civilization in the 21st century.
• In the coming years, as Jordan's economy suffers the damage of COVID-19 and comes under increasing pressure to introduce new austerity measures and further cut the social safety net, there will be growing popular discontent.
• Aquaculture, the practice of farming aquatic plants and animals, is an $88.4 million dollar industry in Maine and benefits coastal communities by providing jobs, food security, and economic opportunity.
• While global greenhouse gas emissions are expected to fall slightly in 2020 due to social distancing measures and economic shutdowns associated with the pandemic - global carbon dioxide levels remain at an all-time high.
• China already has a major presence in civil infrastructure systems around the world, and over the coming years the BRI is expected to be a catalyst for even more outward investment and even greater international influence.
• Youth entering or preparing for the job market in 2020 saw opportunities for summer jobs, internships, and full-time employment disappear as shutdowns and social distancing measures were enacted.
• U.S. platforms are under threat from the growing popularity of social-media apps developed in China, such as TikTok, a popular video-sharing platform that the Trump administration has considered banning in the United States.
• Boris Johnson is under pressure to include social care workers in a fast-track NHS UK visa as figures show that half a million more carers will be needed over the next 15 years.
• There will be wider long-term negative economic impacts of the UK leaving the EU and a reduction in GDP, which could impact on funds available for the NHS and social care.

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Last updated: 13 September 2020