All Points of Progress
Progress WatchIn the clouds, a silver lining: The ozone layer is on track to fully healWhile projections of climate change consequences are dire, the international community has shown it can cooperate to achieve results on ecological issues, as seen in the reduction of the hole in the ozone layer.
Progress WatchWhat鈥檚 made rates of degree attainment for immigrant students spike?Only 30 years ago, about 16聽percent of immigrants had earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree. Today, that number has nearly doubled, and caught up with degree attainment rates for US-born residents as well. Holistic support programs are one factor.
Progress WatchWhy more states are giving juvenile offenders a second chanceMore attention is being given to the idea that young offenders can still make radical changes to their mind-set. As a result, measures aimed at rehabilitating juvenile prisoners instead of punishing them are spreading across the United States.
Progress WatchWhat's giving gender parity a leg up at US corporationsCompanies in the United States have struggled to reach gender quotas in leadership positions, especially as compared to their European counterparts. But new laws and cultural shifts are beginning to change that situation.
Progress WatchMore girls, African-Americans enroll in AP computer science. Why that matters.Many computer science professions are known for being disproportionately white and male. But the Advanced Placement computer science tests have seen a recent spike in the number of female and minority students who take them, forecasting a more diverse future.
Progress WatchIn an Indiana river cleanup, businesses and environmentalists cooperateIndustry and environmental interests are often opposed. But in Indiana, a river cleanup requiring both sides to negotiate with each other offers an example for conservation partnerships everywhere.
Progress WatchAfter #MeToo, state legislatures make changesAcross the nation, lawmakers pledged to take legislative action on sexual harassment. We鈥檝e tracked how they followed through in past months.
Progress WatchUS businesses begin to increase services for deaf people
Progress WatchStopping US teens from smoking, one town at a timeActivists have found the 鈥渟ecret sauce鈥� to help cut down on the number of young smokers: They鈥檙e passing Tobacco 21 laws across the nation, but instead of working at the national level, they鈥檙e focusing on small towns and cities.
Progress WatchBeachcombers worldwide haul 20 million pounds of trash in one dayWith many hands on the task, the聽International Coastal Cleanup shows how communities working together can highlight a problem and help solve it. Legislation is starting to have an impact, too. 聽聽
Progress WatchMillennials are driving a re-sale clothing boomFor a cash-strapped generation that also cares about sustainability issues, taboos are disappearing around previously owned items.聽Online retailers and peer-to-peer marketplace apps are helping to drive a burgeoning market expected to double in size by 2022.
Progress Watch'Deck parks' restore community ties in neighborhoods divided by highwaysAcross the United States, some cities are聽building parks above the roadways in an effort聽to reconnect communities, often low-income neighborhoods, that had been splintered decades ago when new freeways were rammed through in the name of progress.
Progress WatchIn Rwanda, agricultural reforms boost food security and slash povertyIn the nearly 25 years following its genocide, the East African nation has emerged as a leader in the Green Revolution that is lifting millions of people out of poverty by聽providing聽farmers with resources and training and allowing women to inherit land.
Progress WatchHow humpback whales made a global comebackAs international whaling ramped up around the turn of the 20th century so did efforts by governments, activists, and the public to stop the practice. By 2016, more than half of the species' 14 population segments were no longer considered endangered.
Progress WatchWhy the happiest countries are not always the wealthiest onesFinland ranked No. 1 in the 2018 World Happiness Report for its citizens' healthy work-life balance and trust in its national systems. Increasingly, in almost every facet of society 鈥� from policymakers to businesses to schools 鈥� more people are looking to well-being as an indicator of progress.
Progress WatchMore lawmakers agree: feminine hygiene products should be free for prisonersThe lack of access to menstrual products for female inmates is being addressed across more US states. It's been a largely overlooked issue, advocates say, despite the fact that women are the fastest growing demographic of the prison population.
For more US parents, paid family leave becomes realityCalifornia led the way by being the first state to provide paid family leave for workers to care for sick family members or to bond with a new child. In January, the state expanded its benefits. The idea is gaining ground in the United States, showing a shift toward more compassionate workplace practices.聽
Progress WatchBehind death penalty鈥檚 sharp global decline, a shift in attitudes?When the United Nations was created in 1945, only eight countries had abolished capital punishment. Today, that number stands at more than 100. In nearly another 40 countries where the death penalty is still legal, the practice has been reduced.
Progress WatchOne way the US is working out its homeless problemAt a time when half a million people in America are homeless, an Albuquerque homeless work program has sparked more than 20 similar initiatives across the country.
Progress WatchHow the world made macro strides in curbing microbeadsBefore the United States' decision to ban the tiny plastic exfoliants found in cosmetics and face washes, an estimated 3 trillion microbeads found their way into American waterways and other habitats each year. Britain, Canada, and New Zealand have since passed similar bans.