A lovely human known as Max Roser, a researcher at the University of Oxford, did a lot of work to accumulate and visualize data that debunks our ever-intensifying fear that the world is going to hell in a handbasket. We’ve been overhearing a lot of statements in the vein of “I don’t want to raise kids in this world,” lately, but the truth is, things aren’t that bad, relatively speaking. Today, we’re sharing Roser’s key findings with you in the hopes that you’ll sleep better tonight as a result. (Note: Terrorism isn’t covered in these charts, but here’s some food for thought—though terrorist attacks are more widespread globally, and more lethal, than ever before, U.S.-based attacks are actually much scarcer than they were in the ’70s and ’80s.)
5 Reasons Things Are Better Than You Think They Are
From 1800 to 2011, life expectancy averages worldwide have doubled. If this trend continues, our great-grandchildren could live to be 200-years-old.
Is this still too many? Yes, by 10%. That said, a hundred years ago, 80% of the world's population lived in absolute poverty, which is defined by the United Nations as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services."
While this may not be the case stateside, where the wealth gap continues to increase, particularly along racial lines, income distribution worldwide has notably improved since 1990.
This statistic may feel paltry to you, but in 1901 the number of global citizens living in Democratic conditions was just 10%.
This one feels hard to believe, now that the lines between work hours and non-work hours has become forever blurred; however, people worldwide, including Americans, are working an average of 20 hours per week less than they did in 1900.
