What will the world be like ten years from now? It is impossible to say for sure what the future will be, but we do know two important things about it. First, we know that a lot will change between now and 2025. And second, we know that those changes will matter a great deal. They will affect the lives today’s children will lead when they are young adults. They will influence the jobs they do, the way they live and the things they care about. So it is worth looking ahead so we can be prepared. What trends can you see today that will affect our lives in ten years’ time? How might you influence what the world is like in 2025?

1. The World in 2025
FACTS ABOUT THIS NEWS STORY

2. This is an unusual
“news” story, because it
is about tomorrow’s
news, not today’s. So it
relies less on hard facts
than on spotting
“trends” – things that
may affect how the
world changes in the
coming years.
Some signs of change that we are just starting to see today will
be much more important ten years from now.
We can make some guesses about the trends that will matter
most in the future.

3. Technology is bound to
change a lot.
Already, companies like Google
are experimenting with driverless
cars.
Another company, Amazon, is
testing small planes without pilots
to deliver its packages – these
planes are called drones.
Other firms are designing robots
to help around the home.

4. Scientific discoveries
could also make a
difference to the way
people live –
including how long
they live.
Scientists might find
ways of curing more
types of cancer or
treating diseases that
affect people’s minds
and bodies in old age.

5. In ten years’ time there will be significantly more older
people than there are today.
Some will want to carry on working for longer rather than retiring.
Others will need carers to look after them. That would be
particularly helpful because people are living longer and longer.

6. Caring for the elderly may be
one type of job that will be
more common in ten years’
time. Other sorts of job will
grow thanks to new
technologies.
Think of the people who now
work as app developers or
drone operators. These are
jobs that didn’t exist just a few
years ago. But robots will
probably replace people
in some tasks.
The world of work could look
very different in 2025.

7. What happens outside our country is sure
to have a big influence on life in Britain.
China and India both have more than a
billion people and are becoming more and
more important in the world: selling things
to us, buying things from us, using more
energy and consuming more food.
To understand the world in 2025,
we need to look closely at how
Asia is changing.
Photo credit: Cornfield / Shutterstock.com

8. We need to pay
attention to
Africa too.
One sad recent trend
has been the rise in
the number of people
risking their lives in
overcrowded boats to
get to Europe from
troubled parts of
Africa.
The number of these
people, who we call
migrants, could keep
growing if more
people fear for their
futures in their home
countries and are
prepared to take big
risks in the hope of a
better life in Europe.
Big movements of
people are not easy
to handle.

9. Towards the end of 2015
the leaders of countries
around the world will
meet in Paris to try to
agree on ways to control
global warming.
Will they be able to
agree on serious moves
to protect the planet?
If they can’t, worries
about climate change
may be even greater in
2025 than they are today.

10. Another of today’s growing
worries is about the rise of
inequality in many countries
around the world: anger has
increased over the growing
difference between rich
and poor.
This is leading to a search for
ways of narrowing the gap.
Photo credit: Hemin Xylan / Shutterstock.com

11. A big question for 2025 is
whether by then the people
questioning the difference
between rich and poor
people will have started to
have an impact, or whether
inequality will have become
an even bigger concern.