WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A new UN report has warned that billions of people around the world are living in fear of job loss or struggling to find work, as economic instability, conflict, and climate shocks combine to erode global security.
According to the World Social Report 2025 launched on Thursday, the sobering sentiment indicates a widespread lack of confidence in the future.
Despite people living longer, being better educated and more connected than ever before, many believe that life today is worse than it was 50 years ago.
Close to 60 per cent of people surveyed on life satisfaction reported that they were 'struggling' with a further 12 per cent describing themselves as 'suffering', the report notes.
According to the report, economic instability is no longer limited to the world's poorest regions.
Even in high-income countries, rising job uncertainty, gig work and the digital transition are contributing to this trend.
These jobs may offer flexibility but often come at the cost of security and rights - reducing workers to mere service providers in a commodified labour market.
The insecurities are further compounded by an alarming rise in informal employment. In many low and middle-income countries, jobs with no safety net remains the norm, locking workers into cycles of low pay, instability, and zero benefits.
For more than 2.8 billion people living on less than $6.85 a day - the threshold for extreme poverty - 'even a small shock can send people into extreme poverty and any escapes from poverty are often temporary,' the report warns.
As financial pressures mount and stability erodes, public confidence in institutions - and in one another - has also taken a severe hit, particularly among young people.
Over half the world's population now expresses low levels of confidence in government. Among the youth, trust levels are even lower - raising concerns about long-term civic disengagement and political instability.
People's trust in one another is also eroding. Fewer than 30 per cent of people in countries with available data believe that most others can be trusted, undermining social cohesion and complicating efforts for collective action.
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