A sharp erosion of purchasing power, emigration as a form of demographic drain, an education sector plagued by deep structural gaps, and the lack of universal healthcare coverage: these are among the most pressing social challenges weighing on Lebanese society and carrying over from one year to the next.

Far from the issue of weapons exclusivity, imposing security stability, and fully establishing state authority over all Lebanese territory, socio-economic concerns have steadily slipped out of the spotlight, with official attention noticeably fading.

What are the most urgent challenges ahead, and what mechanisms, if any, exist to address them?

According to Pierre Khoury, an economist and dean of the Faculty of Business Administration at the American University of Technology, “Lebanon’s social reality in the new year is experiencing a form of structural disintegration that goes beyond a conventional crisis, amounting instead to a forced reconfiguration of daily life.”

He argues that economic pressures, combined with institutional collapse, have merged to produce an exceptionally complex and fragile landscape.

At the heart of this crisis lies the severe erosion of purchasing power. According to Khoury, "this erosion no longer threatens wellbeing alone, but strikes at the core of households’ food security and basic livelihoods. The result has been the continued shrinking of Lebanon’s traditional middle class and a stark social divide: a small minority with access to income in hard foreign currency, and a large majority struggling with multidimensional poverty. This financial deadlock has had an immediate impact on quality of life, particularly through the forced privatization of basic services. Lebanese citizens are increasingly compelled to secure costly alternatives for electricity, water, and healthcare, outside the framework of an exhausted and weakened state. In effect, fundamental human rights have been transformed into class-based privileges, accessible only to a limited segment of the population."

Obstacles and solutions

In this deterioration, challenges do not stop here, but the most dangerous among them is emigration. Khoury sees "the danger of emigration emerging as a demographic draining phenomenon whose motives have surpassed professional ambition to become a collective escape seeking safety, resulting in a severe 'brain drain' affecting medical and educational professionals, leaving behind a society that is rapidly aging and increasingly deprived of the youthful dynamism needed for renewal and change."

He notes that "this social and political vacuum has, in turn, deepened sectarian and regional divisions. Under the pressure of economic hardship and the absence of an effective state, individuals are increasingly drawn toward narrow identity-based affiliations and patronage networks, an informal systems of political and social dependence that substitute for public institutions."

He stresses "that this dynamic reinforces fragmentation and obstructs any comprehensive national reform project."

Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of these social obstacles is that their impact is not confined to the present but extends decisively into the future, constituting, in itself, the gravest societal threat.

Khoury comments: "This threat is manifested in the educational sector, which suffers huge gaps in funding and resources, undermines young people’s access to adequate education, and lays the groundwork for long-term inequality of opportunity."

This bleak landscape is further compounded by unprecedented collective psychological pressure. Lebanese society is living under conditions of continuous shock and existential anxiety about the future, leading to a rise in mental health disorders and a decline in the sense of collective security. The interaction of these factors has produced a deeply unstable social environment.

Khoury proposes a mechanism for solutions to confront this comprehensive social disintegration, saying: "There is an urgent need to formulate public policies grounded in social justice as a pathway to stability. Rather than remaining a passive observer of collapse, the state must become a protective actor by adopting a strategic plan focused on restructuring the public sector and linking it to a unified national social safety net, one that operates independently of sectarian or clientelist channels."

He emphasizes that "the core of the required policies lies in shifting from short-term relief to sustainable protection. This includes unifying Lebanon’s fragmented social security funds within a universal healthcare system that guarantees dignity for citizens regardless of employment status or social class, concurrently with sovereign investment in public education to bridge the gap between social groups and protect generations from ignorance and dependency."

It's an integrated solution roadmap that also requires, according to Khoury, "adopting progressive tax policies that redistribute burdens fairly and directing available resources towards stimulating productive sectors that create local job opportunities to reduce emigration's hemorrhage, with the necessity to establish an independent judiciary system that protects economic rights and combats the structural corruption that has drained national wealth."

Moreover, the success of these policies is contingent upon the ability to restore institutional trust.

Khoury concludes: "It is a process that requires absolute transparency in public resource management and the involvement of the community and experts in decision-making, to ensure transforming the state from a mere administrative structure into a legal and social umbrella that protects individuals and preserves civil peace from exploding under the weight of hunger and despair."