In August 2013, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made headlines when he asserted that new approaches were needed in prosecuting low-level drug-related crimes, with the goal of lowering incarceration rates and reducing the overcrowding of prisons, among other things.

In response to heightened perceptions of youth crime, in the 1970s a number of U.S. states passed laws allowing the prosecution of more teenagers as adults. While many such decisions were subsequently reversed, some states continue to send certain juvenile offenders to adult courts.

The housing and investment crisis beginning in 2008 revealed some of the financial dysfunction in American households. Research has shown that those with lower financial literacy are less likely to have a checking account, emergency fund or retirement plan, and are more likely to take pay-day loans, pay only minimum credit card balances, take on unaffordable mortgages and carry debt.