People usually associate the idea of social collapse with things that can easily be seen, such as economic collapse, wars, or famine.
The notion of trust is crucial in modern societies because it influences cooperation between people and confidence in institutions. Trust helps people work together, support public policies, and participate in civic life.
According to a report titled "Erosion of Trust: A Threat to Social Progress," published by UN DESA, confidence in government institutions continues to decline and has become a globally pressing issue.
The report reveals that in more than half of the countries studied, trust in government has sharply decreased in the last few years.
Moreover, the report states that all generations have been affected by the lack of confidence, and that the younger generations have a higher distrust in government compared with the older generations.
In the research published in 2025, the results showed that there is an ongoing decline in government trust worldwide. The findings of the research align with previous studies done by different scientists and researchers and came up with similar conclusions. It also points out the connection between the level of trust, social cohesion, civic engagement, and the level of public perception of governance.
Young people and those from developing countries specifically have shown greater decline in trust.
One more important study conducted in 2024 demonstrated that there is a weak relationship between political trust and behavioural outcomes like voting, policy choices and compliance.
Based on the trends, it is quite possible that without enough measures to restore trust in institutions, trust could decline even further.
In the report, it is stated that trust is a prerequisite for the effective functioning of society and its unity, and it also stresses that while trust exists, cooperation between citizens is growing and public policies are fulfilled successfully.
Lack of trust, however, makes it nearly impossible for governments to deal with major challenges.
In conclusion, these data do not demonstrate that society is on the verge of losing the ability to function as a social entity. The data shown in the report indicate that some of the factors that have facilitated this functioning, namely trust in the government and trust between people, are deteriorating.
Source: UN DESA, The Erosion of Trust: A Threat to Social Progress (2025)
Additional sources: UNU-WIDER, Trust in a Changing World (2025) · Devine, Does Political Trust Matter? A Meta-analysis on the Consequences of Trust (2024)
