1. Violence 

• Violence kills 4.4 million people each year globally; 726 million women globally (or nearly 1 in three) have been a victim of physical or sexual partner violence at least once in their life. 

2. Addiction

• In the past decade, substance use has risen 26% across the world, and hopeless individuals are starting to use substances at an earlier age. 

3. Mental Health

• Depression is the leading cause of global disability at an annual cost of US $1 trillion; In total, poor mental health was estimated to cost the world economy approximately $2·5 trillion per year in poor health and reduced productivity in 2010, a cost projected to rise to $6 trillion by 2030. 

 4. Poverty

• The pandemic reversed 30 years of poverty reduction progress, marking the first increase in extreme poverty in a generation. COVID-19’s impact has led to global struggles with surging debt, inflation, trade tensions, and limited fiscal capacity, forseeing 575 million people living in extreme poverty by 2030. 

5. Climate Crisis

• Earth’s temperature has risen by 1.1 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial levels and is projected to exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius tipping point by 2035 subsequently increasing heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires, and rising sea levels. 

6. Displacement

• By May 2023, conflicts and human rights violations displaced 110 million people, with 35 million being refugees –the highest recorded figures. 

7. Education Crisis

• Underinvestment and learning losses foresee 84 million children out of school by 2030, and 300 million children or young people currently attending school will leave without basic literacy skills. 

8. Gender Inequality 

• With the current trajectory, it will take 286 years to close gender gaps in legal protection and eliminate discriminatory laws. 

9. Poor Health 

• Hopelessness is a predictor for unintentional injury and chronic health conditions (e.g., cardiovascular disease and cancer); it impacts self-care during illness and increases the risk of comorbid conditions (e.g., obesity, substance misuse) contributing to poorer prognosis in conditions such as diabetes and chronic pain (de Faria et al., 2020; Everson et al., 1996; Katon, 2011; Tiesman et al., 2006; Pedersen et al., 2009) 

10. Workforce Costs

• Each year, employers face a cost of US $15,000 per employee with depression due to decreased productivity, healthcare expenses, and turnover, the greatest cost to the workplace. Depression leads to 11.5 days of diminished productivity every three months, affecting performance for half of every eight hour shift (NSC, 2023). 

1. Violence 

• Hopefulness is linked to lower levels of violence (Stoddard et al., 2011).

2. Addiction

• Adolescents who are more hopeful are less likely to use substances; (Brooks et al., 2016);

3. Mental Health

• Hope protects against mental health disorders and can act as an intervention for existing mental health concerns.

 4. Poverty

• People with hope invest more into their future, which can lead to better financial outcomes (Eggers et al., 2003).

5. Climate Crisis

• Hope drives group motivation toward outcomes beyond an individual’s control, a key factor in addressing climate change (Bury et al., 2019).

6. Displacement

• Hope plays a vital role in conflict resolution, serving as an intervention that fosters peace in resolving conflicts, which may help reduce the number of refugees, and hope also helps refugees manage change (Cohen-Chen et al., 2013).

7. Education Crisis

• Higher hope increased school retention by 53% and increased graduation rate, even in areas where 1 in 3 kids graduate due to community hardship and adversity (Bashant, 2016; Bryce et al., 2021).  
• 85% of K-12 school superintendents report student hopefulness is a “very important” way to measure the effectiveness of public schools (Hodges, 2016)

8. Gender Inequality 

• Hope emerges as a powerful construct for support and pursuing social change (Greenaway et al., 2017).

9. Poor Health 

• Hope enhances physical health and outcomes, lowering the risk of mortality and chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, stroke, cancer, heart and lung diseases, arthritis, obesity, and chronic pain), while also boosting treatment adherence and speeding up recovery (Long et al., 2020; Zhu et al., 2017; Zou et al., 2022).

10. Workforce Costs

• Hope is one of the four basic needs in Strength-Based Leadership and correlates with a 14% increase in workplace productivity, outperforming intelligence, optimism, and self-efficacy. Higher hope is also linked to increased engagement and employee retention (APA, 2013b; Baraket-Bojmel et al., 2023;  e-Hasan et al., 2022)