Percentage of Americans who believe getting sick during cold and flu season is inevitable, according to a survey, conducted by Harris Poll, on behalf of the American Osteopathic Association: 42
Ranks of the workplace, public transportation and the home (from family or roommates) on the list of the most likely places to catch a cold or the flu: 1, 2, 3
Source: American Osteopathic Association.
Ranks of save more and spend less, pay down debt, increase my income, and create a budget and stick to it on the list of Americans' top financial resolutions for the upcoming year, according to a survey by GOBankingRates.com: 1, 2, 3, 4
Percentage of Americans who have less than $1,000 in savings, according to a 2016 GoBankingRates.com survey: 70
Source: GoBankingRates.com.
A century ago, average life expectancy for a baby girl, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 54.3 years
Average life expectancy for a baby boy: 49.6 years
Today, average life expectancy for a baby girl: 81
Average life expectancy for a baby boy: 76.4
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
Ranks of "Stranger Things" (Netflix), "Mr. Robot" (USA network), "Game of Thrones" (HBO) and "Orange Is the New Black" (Netflix) on the list of the top 25 recommended shows for winter binge-watching, according to E-Poll Market Research: 1, 2, 3, 4
Source: E-Poll Market Research.
Percentage of attorneys who cited an increase in the number of millennials requesting prenuptial agreements, according to a survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML): 51
Source: American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
Percentage of Americans who report cooking at home four nights or more per week in 2016, according to a national survey by Peapod and ORC: 72
Percentage who are planning to cook dinner at home even more in the new year: 34
Percentage of millennials who are making this a resolution for 2017: 49
Percentage of baby boomers who are making this a resolution: 24
Source: Peapod.
Percentage of workers who are planning to change jobs in 2017, according to a CareerBuilder survey: 22
Percentage of workers ages 18 to 34 who expect to change jobs in 2017: 35
Source: CareerBuilder.com.
Percentage of their content-watching time each day that the average child in the United States and Britain spends viewing content from a streaming source, according to an Ipsos survey: 72
Percentage of kids who continue to use some sort of television to watch content: 75
Percentage who are using tablets to watch their favorite shows: 61
Percentage who are using smartphones: 40
Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.
Percentage of CFOs who said their organization updates all employees with regular information on financial performance, up from 7 percent in 2012, according to a Robert Half survey: 25
Percentage who said they share financial information with select employees, up from 17 percent in 2012: 31
Percentage who don't share financial information with employees, down from 76 percent in 2012: 43
Percentage of employees who said they were either very interested or somewhat interested in hearing about their company's financial performance: 69
Source: Robert Half Management Resources.
Estimated number of children 5 and younger who are injured in shopping carts across the nation each year, according to a report by the U.S. Product Safety Commission: 24,000
Number of children who go to the emergency room every day because of injuries related to shopping carts: 66
Source: Lucky Baby World.
Idle Thought
"Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly." -- Rose Franken, author and playwright
(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.)