Decade of changes: 20 things that have changed for the better since 2010

Fewer people smoke. Current smoking rates have declined over the last 15 years.

The gender gap is narrowing. Globally, the overall gender gap stood at 32% in 2018, which was only slightly better than 2017, according to the Global Gender Gap Report of 2018.

More U.S. sports teams are winning titles.Sports fans in the United States have been treated to a mixture of teams winning championships over the last decade.

Prices of goods and services are lower. Technology and the globalization of trade have largely driven prices down.

Unemployment is lower. Annual unemployment in the United States fell to 3.9% from 9.6% between 2010 and 2018.

Poverty is down. The U.S. poverty rate has fallen below the 2007 level just before the recession cost millions of people their jobs

Fewer people are homeless.Overall in the United States, in 2010, just over 637,000 people were experiencing homelessness, 106,000 of them being chronically homeless individuals.

Child mortality rates have declined. In 2010, the rate was 51,000 children per 1,000 live births; in 2018, that figure was 39 per 1,000 births.

Personal income is up.The real personal income per capita in the United States has increased by 15.6% between 2010, when it was $42,366, and 2017, when it was $48,980, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Cancer is becoming a chronic condition. New diagnoses are expected to continue to rise largely due to the ongoing growth and aging of the U.S. population.

Violent crime rates are falling.The violent crime rate, which includes offenses such as rape, robbery, and assault, in the country has decreased by 8.8% from 2010 to 2018, according to FBI data.

Computer memory is cheaper than ever. Prices have now stabilized and are at historic lows.

U.S. hunger rate is lowest in a decade. In 2018, 11.1% of American households had difficulty providing enough food for everyone in the family. In 2017, that figure was 11.8%, and in 2011 it was 14.9%.

Honeybee populations are on the rise. The number of honeybees in the U.S. increased 3% in 2017 from a year earlier to 2.89 million.

Fewer people are diagnosed with HIV. Since 2010, new HIV infections have declined by an estimated 16%, from 2.1 million to 1.7 million in 2018, according to UNAIDS.

More women run for public office.Women have taken center stage in the political sphere, especially after the 2016 presidential election.

Child labor rates decrease. The overall number of children in employment, which includes employed children who are of legal working age, is down.

Fewer youths are illiterate. The global number of illiterate youth ages 5-24 has fallen by 25 million from 2010, when it was 125 million, to 100 million in 2018, according to UNICEF.

Black women most likely to get a college degree. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that black women are the most educated demographic in the U.S. in terms of the number of associate and bachelor degrees earned.