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Two thirds of the world population still living extreme poverty live in Sub-Saharan Africa. But there are signs of economic progress in the region. One is that the share of adults who have formal savings rose to 35 percent last year – up from 23 percent just three years earlier. The gamechanger here is mobile…

Members of Generation Z, now coming through their most crime-prone years, are the least criminal generation on record. And not by just a little. Among 15-to-19-year-olds, Gen Z’s burglary rate is less than a third that of the Millennials at the same age. Boomers and Gen X had even higher burglary rates. The numbers for…

The lack of access to clean drinking water, functioning sanitation systems, and a place to wash one’s hands is a major gateway for some of the most devastating diseases that sweep poor populations, especially those that kill children under 5 around the world. So it is a major step in basic health and quality of…

Air travel once had an upper-middle class vibe. People dressed for it. There was a bit of excitement to it. Some people might even miss those days. But what we’ve gained is access and affordability. Since 2000, the average air fare – measured against the median wage of a nonsupervisory worker – has dropped by…

Despite what nine out of ten of us believe, the divorce rate in America has been falling for decades and is now at its lowest level since the 1950s. We can’t know how many new marriages today will end in divorce for many decades to come, but based on the data so far, experts put…

Lonely, screen-obsessed Americans are not going gently into their digital dungeons. People of all ages are playing sports – actual grunt and sweat physical activities in clubs, on teams, and in casual social groups – at a higher rate than in decades. The share of Americans over the age of six who participated in a…

Last year, 92 percent of new energy capacity built around the world was clean and renewable. Renewable sources – solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and more – now produce about 32 percent of the world’s electricity. Add in nuclear power, which is also non-carbon emitting, and 40 percent of global power is now clean. “The sun…

Early this month, Paris officially opened up three swimming sites on the Seine River. The river made its debut as safe for swimming last summer when several Olympic events were held in the urban river – where swimming was banned for health reasons for more than a century. It is indeed a sign of the…

Weather disasters used to be far more disastrous. A storm surge in Galveston in 1900 killed about 8,000. In 1931, a flood on the Yangtze in China killed almost 4 million.  Since then, the weather has grown more violent.  But the number of killed by these climate-related disasters so far in the 21st century is less…

Voter fraud and manipulation were widespread and barely hidden in the United States of a century ago. Think Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall. Now not so much. The conservative Heritage Foundation runs a database of “proven instances of voter fraud” from the present back to as far as 1948. They have found 1,384 instances in…