With over 341 million people living in its 50 states, the United States has many social issues. The American political system and culture are also highly influential on a global level, so what goes on there affects people around the world. What issues should everyone keep their eyes on? Here are ten examples:
#1. Student debt
In a 2026 article, Forbes lists jarring student loan debt statistics in the United States. The total student debt is $1.86 trillion in federal and private loans. On average, borrowers each owe almost $29,560. Over 90% of all student debt comes from federal student loans. This matters because the student loan debt growth rate has been outpacing the rise in tuition by 353.8%. Federal relief measures aren’t enough. In the first quarter of 2026, collective student debt rose by over 3% year over year. Many can’t pay their loans. When borrowers fall behind, their credit score gets hit, making other forms of debt relief impossible. Without additional lines of credit, people keep sinking into debt. Why is this happening? Rising tuition costs are a clear cause, but cuts in state funding for higher education and stagnant wages are responsible, too. Debt cancellations would make a big difference right away, but tuition costs, cuts, and wages need to be addressed, as well.
#2. Wage inequality
An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute found that from 1979-2023, wages for the top 1.0% jumped by 181.7%. The top 0.1% saw even more growth: 353.9%. For the bottom 90%, wages grew a measly 43.7%. Inequality has been getting worse. In 2023, the bottom 90% received 60.7% of all wages. In early 2026, the top 10% of Americans held about 68% of all U.S. wealth. The difference between CEO pay and the pay of typical workers also demonstrates a stark inequality. Between 1978-2024, CEO pay increased 1,094% while the typical worker saw an increase of 26%. The old saying “the rich keep getting rich” rings true in the United States.
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#3. Healthcare
A functioning and affordable healthcare system remains elusive in the United States. According to a KFF analysis of government data, nearly 1 in 12 adults have medical debt. 3 million people owe more than $10,000. Black adults, people with disabilities, and those in poor health are most likely to have significant medical debt. Overall, Americans owe at least $200 billion. COVID-19 also exposed many cracks in the healthcare system. A 2021 article listed barriers to healthcare access, price and costs, inequity, the marginalization of public health, and quality issues as the longest-standing systemic problems made worse by the pandemic. The United States’ system was simply not equipped to handle the pandemic well. To deal with future pandemics and the everyday health and wellness of those within its borders, the United States healthcare system needs an overhaul.
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#4. Housing
In most places in the United States, affordable housing is very challenging to find. According to Pew Research, 49% of Americans said finding affordable housing in their community was a “major problem” in 2021. This is an increase of 10 percentage points from early 2019. Stagnant wages are deeply entwined with housing concerns. According to a 2026 report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, in 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, renters earning the average renter wage would need to work more than 40 hours a week to afford a two-bedroom rental home. In New York, people would need to work 108 hours a week at the state’s $16.00/hour wage to afford a 1-bedroom rental. In California, there’s a $16.90/hour minimum wage, which gets you a 1-bedroom rental with 102 hours of work per week. Renting a 1-bedroom in Texas, with its $7.25/hour wage, requires a 139-hour work week. Issues like stagnant wages, debt, and soaring prices are also making home ownership a distant dream for many people, especially Millenials. According to Apartment List, 24% of millennial renters plan on renting forever, with 74% citing affordability as the reason.
#5. Voting rights
Because of its effect on every other issue, the attack on voting rights is arguably the most concerning problem in the United States. The Brennan Center For Justice tracks restrictions and between January 1 and December 31 in 2025, 17 states passed 32 laws restricting voting access. Republicans have always wanted stricter voting laws, but in the wake of the Big Lie that Joe Biden stole the presidential election, they’ve escalated their attacks. The Center continued to track laws, finding that as of May 1 in 2026, at least 302 bills with restrictive provisions had been considered in 41 states. In 2025, lawmakers in at least 47 states considered at least 486 restrictive voting bills. Restrictions include limiting mail-in voting, restricting Sunday voting, establishing new or stricter voter ID laws, and more. These laws not only restrict voter access but prop up lies about election integrity and weaken voter trust in results.
#6. Reproductive rights
Fulfilling decades of work from conservative politicians and activists, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, eliminating the federal constitutional right to abortion. Politico broke the story in May when they received a draft majority opinion penned by Justice Samuel Alito. The report was soon confirmed as authentic, sparking protests and outrage. When the official ruling arrived on June 24, 2022, reproductive rights in the US were immediately weakened. As of September 2026, 13 states have total abortion bans in effect, while 28 states have abortion bans based on gestational duration. States have already restricted abortion rights in tricky ways, such as enforcing bans with civil lawsuits instead of criminal prosecution. Oklahoma has a total abortion ban in effect, with an exception to save the pregnant person’s life and no independent exceptions for incest or rape. The reversal of Roe also raised concerns about attacks on contraception. In The Guardian, the faculty co-director for the Center for Health Policy and Law at Northeastern University is quoted: “Once you throw down the best-known decision in that category of cases, every single other case is now up for grabs.”
#7. Book banning in schools
In recent years, education advocates, librarians, teachers, and others have watched in horror as book bans increase across the country. In the 2024-2025 school year, PEN America recorded 6,870 instances of individual books being banned. Bans occurred in 23 states across 87 public school districts. Since 2021, PEN America has documented 22,810 cases of book bans across 45 states and 451 public school districts. Books have always been challenged in school libraries, and PEN America identified 2,520 book ban cases in 2024-2025 that were influenced by the presence or threat of state laws. The books challenged mostly involve sexual education, LGBTQ+ identities, and the teaching of race and racism. Conservative groups like Moms for Liberty often use “parental rights” to justify book bans. Could bans extend beyond school libraries? In 2022, a Virginia legislator sued Barnes & Noble with the intent to stop the bookstore from selling two so-called obscene books to minors without parental consent, but the case was dismissed. This surge of book bans has continued since 2021, but it’s currently one of the most pressing social issues in the US.
#8. LGBTQ+ rights
Since 2022, the rhetoric targeting the LGBTQ+ community and their allies has escalated. Conservative media pundits and politicians alike have started throwing around the term “groomer,” a throwback attack accusing gay and trans people of preying on children and “recruiting” them. NPR names Christopher Rufo, the conservative activist also responsible for the crusade against critical race theory, as one of the earliest and main promoters of this tactic. Tucker Carlson, then a Fox News host, has also accused teachers of “grooming” students when they talk about gender and sexual identities. Attacks have gone beyond rhetoric and seeped into the law. Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law is the most prominent, but in 2026, 834 anti-trans bills have been considered across 43 states. Groups opposing gay rights have also collected millions in support of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. This level of hostility is extremely concerning and suggests a backward trajectory for LGBTQ+ rights.
#9. Climate justice
Scientists and activists have been warning about climate change for decades, but current action remains insufficient. The United States is seeing harsher effects of climate change. In 2021, three severe winter storms moved across the United States, causing the worst energy infrastructure failure in Texas state history. There were shortages of energy, water, and food. In a final report, the Department of State Health Services identified 246 deaths, though the death toll could be higher. One study suggested that warming in climate change-triggered Arctic warming could be responsible for the storms, as warming increases polar vortex outbreaks. Warm air weakens polar vortexes, they stretch and move south, causing the kinds of storms seen in Texas. Climate change also extends wildfire seasons and worsens heat waves, like the one in June 2021 in the Pacific Northwest, which killed hundreds. “Unusual” events like this will only become more commonplace, so action is essential.
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#10. Racism
Racism has been a social issue in the United States for hundreds of years. In the summer of 2020, the country saw the largest civil rights protest movement since the 1960s. Not shockingly, there’s been a backlash to the progress sought by anti-racist activists. Book bans, which we discussed earlier, are a common attack as bans target the education of children and their understanding of race and racism in the United States. Racism also takes the form of blatant violence. In May 2022, an 18-year-old killed 10 people in a planned attack on Black people. His “manifesto” explained his motives, which included the Great Replacement Theory, an ideology that claims White people are being replaced. According to a 2024 UMass Amherst poll, 73% of Republicans believed that elected officials want to increase immigration in order to bring in voters who will vote for them. That doesn’t mean 7 in 10 Republicans will undertake an act of violence, but it shows how prevalent racist ideologies are.
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