PRB

Shifting politics, emerging technologies, and demographic change are reshaping how societies plan for the future. The following five areas highlight what to watch in the year ahead and how PRB is responding.

1. Data have never been more valuable—or more vulnerable.

Getting people in power to care about data has always been challenging, but 2025 was exceptionally tough. In the United States, data sets and indicators have been removed from public access, career statistical staff have faced historic layoffs, and public trust in the government’s intentions around data collection has nosedived. These blows to data access and integrity have prompted many individuals and organizations to take action. Through the Federal Data Forum, PRB has created a community for data users to gather information, share news and tools, and mobilize to protect our public data resources—one of our greatest democratic assets.

2. Women’s health care services are underfunded and at risk.

The dissolution of USAID has disrupted vital maternal health and family planning services in low- and middle-income countries, and the near-simultaneous loss of the Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) program has made the consequences harder to track. Meanwhile, in the United States, increasing legal restrictions on abortion care and contraception endanger women’s health care and bodily autonomy—in some cases, costing lives. PRB is documenting how changes to Medicaid affect contraceptive access within the states; we’re also examining how a global dearth of data on menopause affects women’s health outcomes. Policymakers are in dire need of such insights, and our efforts will support evidence-based decision-making in the United States and across the world.

3. Population change and AI are reshaping work.

AI has dominated headlines in the last year, with increased speculation that the powerful new technology is spurring layoffs in the global workforce. Equally important, yet less attention-grabbing, are data showing waves of older workers exiting the labor force in many countries, creating imbalances in the number of retirees relative to working adults. Next year, PRB will unveil research on the future of work, including projections on both retirees and older workers, that will help illuminate the future, guide responsive policy, and refine our understanding of the changing workforce.

4. Depopulation is demanding creative solutions in more communities.

In several regions, thousands of cities and towns are already facing—or on the verge of—population loss. Between 2023 and 2024, 452 U.S. counties would have lost population without immigration. Meanwhile, global fertility is trending downward, and many countries—including the United States and most European nations—are facing rapid population aging. These examples could portend a depopulating future in many places. “Without being alarmist, we have to acknowledge that the make-up and distribution of our societies will look different in future,” PRB CEO Jennifer Sciubba writes in a new piece with Population Europe. This year, PRB is continuing research year to understand how policymakers are confronting these changes and paving the way for creative solutions.

5. Prioritizing care work in policy agendas is reframing women’s economic and societal contributions.

Globally, women’s unpaid care work is marginalized, preventing countries from fully accounting for this often invisible and vital labor and costing some their full economic potential (One estimate put the global value of unpaid care work at $11 trillion, or 9% of global GDP). Recently, Benin has served as an example of a nation that is seeking to prioritize unpaid care work in its policymaking agenda, hosting a historic parliamentary workshop with PRB support. In the coming year, PRB will be sharing actionable learning from our efforts to support a robust care economy in West Africa and beyond as we explore how more countries might support a bold care agenda.

Follow us in 2026 as we track these issues and trends and consider what they mean for policy, equity, and the future.