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What trends are likely to remain the same from 2015 and which ones are set to change? What are the analysts saying about the new buzz for this year? According to a report detailing trends of 2015 conducted by the Pew Research Center, there have been some clear indicators that tell us in which direction society is headed for 2016.
Last year actually witnessed a move away from the shrinkage of the middle class – something that has been encountered for the last few years. Indeed, it was the year 2015 that “marked the first year that the middle class was not larger than those segments of the population above and below it.”
Politically things aren’t great though. A somewhat unfortunate result from the report showed that less than 20 percent of Americans feel able to put their trust in the government “always or most of the time,” one of the lowest figures in the last half century.
However, it’s not so clear cut that there is a negative political climate in the nation. Despite this second finding, according to a different article written by Matthew Dowd, “it’s a great time to be in America.” Dowd claims that there are fewer communication barriers than ever before (in part due to the escalation of new media institutions, social media, etc. and further that individuals and communities as a whole are presented with many more choices than they were years ago. Due to advances in technology for example, one can often choose to work remotely, create change as a group (social media campaigns) and not have to rely on those in official authoritative power to engineer that for us.
So moving back to the Pew Report, it is thus somewhat surprising that “more immigrants from Mexico are leaving the US than coming into the country,” a figure that is higher than it has been since the 1940s. Part of this however is due to more stringent immigration law enforcement under the Obama administration.
Other good news to watch out for is the increase in the entrepreneurial industry, both in business and social structures – a trend that is likely to continue in the future. Again this can be connected to the increasing power people are getting from social media, translating into their capacity to make the changes they want rather than waiting for the official institution to actualize it.
It seems thus that overall there are many positive changes and trends Americans can look out for and benefit from in 2016.