Social Justice
Read about the newest efforts to overthrow systemic inequalities and address injustices in terms of wealth, opportunities, and privileges to make the world a better place.
Historic ILO vote gives gig workers labour rights for the first time
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For the first time, gig workers have binding international labour protections. The International Labour Organization voted June 12 to adopt a convention setting enforceable employment standards for platform workers in ride-hailing and food delivery. Four Read More...
WasteBar turns cigarette butt waste into food currency in the Netherlands
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM There is a small mobile cart somewhere in the Netherlands right now, and if you bring it a handful of cigarette butts, it will give you poffertjes. Those are Dutch mini pancakes, in case you were wondering, and yes, the exchange is real. WasteBar is the Read More...
The case for making prison phone calls free: new data, real results
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For decades, a phone call home from prison could cost a family several dollars a minute. That wasn’t an oversight. It was the business model. A growing number of state prison systems and county jails have moved to make calls free, arguing that regular Read More...
Chile’s maternity leave expansion led to a three-year employment boost
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In October 2011, Chile extended postnatal leave from 12 to 24 weeks for women contributing to the country’s social security system. The reform also introduced five days of paid paternity leave. A study published this year by economist Francisca Read More...
Minnesota just banned the apps that make deepfake nudes
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Two years ago, Molly Kelley found out that a close family friend had used a nudification website to make nonconsensual deepfake images of her and dozens of other women. About 80 women in Minnesota were affected by the same person. When she tried to figure out Read More...
The Big Catch-Up vaccinated 18 million children in two years
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Before any vaccine can protect a child, someone has to reach them. Around 12.3 million of the children covered by the Big Catch-Up had never received a single dose of anything: not measles, not polio, not diphtheria. They are known as zero-dose children, and Read More...
How Paraguay cut its poverty rate from over 50 to 16 percent in two decades
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In 2005, more than half of Paraguay’s population lived in poverty. By 2025, that share had fallen to 16 percent. A third of the country’s population crossed that threshold over two decades; around 300,000 more did so in just the last two years. A World Read More...
Gaza sisters turn rubble into bricks to rebuild their community
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The house Tala and Farah Mousa were living in was bombed. So they looked at the rubble and started asking what it could become. Their answer is Build Hope, Palestine: a way to turn debris from damaged buildings into reusable blocks. Crushed and sieved Read More...
Chicago public school IDs now double as library cards
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Getting a library card should be easy. For many children, it isn’t. The process can require documentation that not every family has: a fixed address, proof of residency, or a guardian’s signature. For students who are unhoused, in foster care, or Read More...
Manchester’s ‘dress rehearsal’ for life is getting homeless men back to work
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Chris, 57, a former painter and decorator from the north-east, spent most of his life “travelling from town to town with a tent.” Now he has his own front door, a view of the Bridgewater canal, and a German kitchen fitted with Bosch appliances. His main Read More...