Newsletter · Sep 3, 2026

One in six private-sector workers was in a union. Now it is one in seventeen. — and 11 more charts

Line chart of the U.S. union membership rate from 1983 to 2025 on a 0 to 40 percent scale. The private-sector line falls steadily from 16.8% to 5.9%. The public-sector line stays high, drifting only from 36.7% to 32.9%. The shaded gap between them widens from 20 percentage points in 1983 to 27 today. A dashed line for all workers falls from 20.1% to 10.0%.

Economy

One in six private-sector workers was in a union. Now it is one in seventeen.

In 1983, 16.8% of American private-sector workers belonged to a union. By 2025 that had fallen to 5.9% — the lowest on record — while the rate among government workers barely moved.

Chartive EditorialSep 3, 2026

A pictogram of one hundred squares representing one dollar of U.S. federal revenue, with 18.5 squares shaded red for interest. Below, a filled line chart shows net interest as a share of federal revenue for every fiscal year from 1940 to 2025. The line falls to about 5% in the 1940s, hovers near 7% through the 1950s and 1960s, climbs through the 1970s and 1980s to a peak of 18.4% in 1991, falls back to a low of 6.9% in 2015, then rises steeply to 18.5% in 2025.

Economy

Nearly 19 cents of every dollar the U.S. collects now goes to interest

In the 2025 fiscal year the federal government paid $970 billion in net interest on its debt, against $5.24 trillion in revenue — 18.5% of everything it took in, the highest share in records going back to 1940.

Chartive EditorialSep 2, 2026

A grid of twelve small line charts showing the share of adults with obesity from 1980 to 2024, all on the same 0 to 45 percent scale, each with the world average as a dashed reference line. The world panel rises from 5.0% to 16.4%. Egypt reaches 42.8%, the United States 41.8%, Mexico 37.4%, Australia 32.4%, South Africa 31.3%, Brazil 30.9%, the United Kingdom 29.2% and Germany 24.5% — all above the world average and drawn in gold. France (12.5%), China (9.1%) and Japan (5.2%) sit below it and are drawn in blue.

Health

In 1980, one in twenty adults had obesity. Today it is one in six.

The share of adults worldwide with a body mass index of 30 or more rose from 5.0% in 1980 to 16.4% in 2024. Every country has risen — but by wildly different amounts.

Chartive EditorialSep 1, 2026

Line chart of children per woman from 1960 to 2024. South Korea's line falls steeply from 6.0 in 1960 to 0.72 in 2023, crossing below the dashed 2.1 replacement line in the mid-1980s, then ticks up to 0.75 in 2024. Context lines end at 2.19 for the world, 1.63 for the United States and 1.15 for Japan. An inset panel magnifies the 2010s, marking the 0.721 low point in 2023 and the rise to 0.748 in 2024.

Demographics

South Korea went from six children per woman to fewer than one — then turned

In 1960 the average South Korean woman had 6.0 children. By 2023 the figure had fallen 88% to 0.72 — the lowest rate ever recorded for a country. In 2024 it rose for the first time in nine years.

Chartive EditorialAug 31, 2026

Line chart of monthly atmospheric CO₂ at Mauna Loa from 1958 to 2026, rising with a seasonal saw-tooth pattern from about 315 to 429 parts per million.

Climate

Carbon dioxide keeps climbing

Monthly CO₂ in the atmosphere, measured at Mauna Loa, Hawaii — the famous “Keeling Curve.” It has risen from about 315 parts per million in 1958 to around 430 today, climbing in every single decade.

Daniel OkaforAug 31, 2026

World map on an Equal Earth projection showing women per 100 men enrolled in higher education. Most of the world is shaded pink, meaning women outnumber men: Brazil at 136, the United States 132, Germany 110, India 107. Blue areas where men outnumber women are concentrated in the Sahel and Afghanistan, at 38 women per 100 men, and include Japan at 97 and South Korea at 89. Grey marks countries with no recent data. A pink line beneath the map traces the world figure rising from 59 in 1970 to 112 in 2024, crossing a dashed parity line in 2001.

Society

In 1970 there were 59 women in higher education for every 100 men. Now there are 112.

Worldwide, higher education went from strongly male to majority female, passing equal numbers in 2001. Women now outnumber men in 132 of the 155 countries and territories with recent data — but the exceptions are two very different stories.

Chartive EditorialAug 30, 2026

Line chart of the share of U.S. household wealth held by three groups from 1989 to 2026, on a full axis from 0 to 45 percent. The top 1% line rises from 22.8% to 31.6%. The bottom 90% line falls from 39.2% to 32.1%. The two nearly meet at the right edge, and a shaded band marks 2014 to 2019, when the top 1% was ahead in 22 of 23 quarters. A third line near the bottom shows the bottom 50%, flat between 4.1% and 2.5% for the whole period. Below, two stacked bars compare the full composition in 1989 Q3 and 2026 Q1.

Economy

The richest 1% now own almost as much as the bottom 90% combined

In 1989 the wealthiest 1% of American households held 22.8% of all net worth and the bottom 90% held 39.2% — a gap of 16 percentage points. That gap has almost closed: 31.6% against 32.1%.

Chartive EditorialAug 30, 2026

Logarithmic scatter chart of launch cost per kilogram to low Earth orbit by rocket, 1962 to 2019, in constant 2021 dollars. Costs range from over $100,000/kg to SpaceX's Falcon Heavy at about $1,500 and Falcon 9 at $2,600, far below the Space Shuttle's $65,400 and Saturn V's $5,400.

Technology

Reaching orbit got 44× cheaper

Cost to launch one kilogram to low Earth orbit, by rocket (inflation-adjusted). SpaceX's reusable Falcons cost around $1,500–2,600/kg — a fraction of the Space Shuttle's $65,000 and of nearly every rocket before them.

Chartive EditorialAug 30, 2026

Warming stripes: 176 vertical stripes, one per year from 1850 to 2025, coloured from blue (cooler) to deep red (hotter) than the pre-industrial average. Recent decades are deep red; 2024 is the hottest year on record at about 1.5°C above pre-industrial.

Climate

175 years of a warming world

Each stripe is one year's global temperature from 1850 to 2025 — blue for cooler, red for hotter than the pre-industrial average. The ten hottest years on record have all come since 2015.

Chartive EditorialAug 30, 2026

Dumbbell chart of average hours per day spent alone by Americans, comparing 2010 and 2025 across eight age groups. Every group moved toward more time alone. Ages 15–19 rose from 3.60 to 5.16 hours (+43%), 20–24 from 4.21 to 5.49 (+30%), 25–34 from 4.40 to 6.37 (+45%), 35–44 from 4.92 to 6.10 (+24%), 45–54 from 6.14 to 6.88 (+12%), 55–64 from 6.88 to 7.59 (+10%), 65–74 from 7.47 to 8.13 (+9%) and 75 and over from 7.89 to 8.31 (+5%). A panel below shows time spent with friends falling from 65 minutes a day in 2010 to 33 in 2025.

Society

Alone time is rising — fastest for the young

Americans spent 6.82 waking hours a day alone in 2025, up from 5.61 in 2010. Teenagers now spend 43% more time alone than they did in 2010, and 25–34-year-olds 45% more — while time with friends has been cut in half.

Chartive EditorialAug 29, 2026

Diverging bar chart of U.S. price changes since January 2000. Bars extend right for rises: hospital services +293%, college tuition +199%, textbooks and supplies +184%, child care +161%, electricity +153%, medical care +152%, hourly wages +133%, housing +117%, food and drink +108%, overall inflation +98%, new vehicles +25%, clothing +6%. Bars extend left for falls: furniture and bedding 0%, cellphone service −44%, software −67%, toys −73%, televisions −98%.

Economy

What got expensive — and what got cheap

Since January 2000, U.S. hospital care has nearly quadrupled in price and college tuition tripled, while TVs, toys and software collapsed. Average hourly wages rose 133% — beating overall inflation, but far behind the essentials.

Chartive EditorialAug 29, 2026

Line chart of real U.S. home prices and median household income, indexed to 1987 = 100. The home-price line rises to 196 by 2024 (up 96%), spiking to 166 in the 2006 bubble, crashing, then climbing to a new high. The median-income line stays far below, reaching only 130 (up 30%). A shaded gap between the two lines widens over time.

Economy

Home prices soared — incomes didn't

After inflation, U.S. home prices climbed 96% between 1987 and 2024 while the median household income rose just 30% — pushing real prices above even the 2006 bubble.

Chartive EditorialAug 29, 2026

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