ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about what people are predicting about the future. It identifies strategies for understanding why certain forecasts are made and for interpreting potential future scenarios with an eye toward impacting future outcomes. To illustrate a way in which forecasts can have different effects on different constituencies, consider predictions about the social work labor force. Armed with these insights into understanding future forecasts, the chapter explores major factors that will most likely influence future social policy: increasing racial and ethnic diversity, medical and technological changes, and globalization and the depletion of natural resources. It analyzes these factors and considers what their influence on policy might be and how social workers can respond. The chapter examines implications for future social policy of increasing ethnic and racial diversity across the lifespan in the US It outlines policy approaches, attuned to the future economic, demographic, and cultural environment, that can contribute to a more equitable future.
