Average reading grade level at which most credit card agreements are written, according to a new CreditCards.com report: 11th
Approximate percentage of consumers who read at a ninth-grade level or below: 50
Average number of words in a credit card agreement, which takes a typical adult about 20 minutes to read: 4,900
Percentage of credit card holders who "never" or "hardly ever" read the legal agreements that come with their cards: 46
Source: CreditCards.com.
Percentage of employees who have applied to between three and nine jobs in the last six months, according to Nielsen's Home Entertainment Consumer Trends report: 29
Percentage of employees who feel every job is temporary: 43
Percentage of employees who feel changing jobs will increase compensation: 57
Source: ManpowerGroup.
Date that a Domino's franchise in Auckland, New Zealand, delivered a pizza via drone, according to research by YouGov: Aug. 25, 2016
According to a poll from YouGov, percentage of Americans aged 18 and older who think drones are capable of delivering pizza without a hitch: 35
More specifically, percentage of people who trust that a drone will actually let go of the food when it's supposed to: 32
Source: YouGov.
Percentage of Americans who voted for the same person as their partner in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, according to an Ipsos survey: 64
This year, percentage of independents who believe they will vote for the same person as their partner: 56
Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.
Percentage of Americans who believe income from investments should be taxed at least as much as wages, according to the 2016 Tax Fairness Survey by WalletHub: 90
Percentage of respondents who view tax fairness as more important than whatever is best for the economy (22.6 percent) and tax equality (20.6 percent): 56.7
Ranks of taxes on wages and corporations on the list of the least fair taxes: 1, 2
Ranks of taxes on alcohol and tobacco on the list of the most fair taxes: 1, 2
Source: WalletHub.
Percentage of employers who say two or more hours a day are lost in productivity because employees are distracted, according to a CareerBuilder Survey: 75
When looking for a culprit, percentage of employers who say that workers' mobile phones/texting are to blame: 55
Percentage of workers who have smartphones: 83
Percentage of those with smartphones who keep them within eye contact at work: 82
Source: CareerBuilder.com.
Percentage of Americans who say they turn off lights, televisions or other appliances when not in use in order to improve energy efficiency at home, according to results of a Harris Poll: 75
Percentage of Americans who are replacing incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs: 50
Percentage who are looking for the Energy Star label when replacing appliances: 47
Percentage who are using low-watt bulbs where lighting isn't critical: 46
Source: The Harris Poll.
Percentage of total expenditures on course textbooks nationwide that goes toward print materials, according to data from Nielsen's U.S. Student Attitudes Towards Content in Higher Education report: 69
Source: Nielsen Analytics.
Percentage of people who say they buy or rent their home media content both physically and digitally, according to Nielsen's Home Entertainment Consumer Trends report: 41
Even though Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy five years ago, percentage of people who said they still buy or rent only physical discs: 20
Source: Nielsen Online.
Rank of road accidents on the list of the most prolific killers of tourists, even in countries that suffer from terrorism or violence, according to research by the Global Wellness Institute: 1
For the United States, number of times more that the domestic homicide rate exceeds the rate of Americans killed while traveling abroad for tourism purposes (last year, 4 per 100,000 vs. 0.2 per 100,000): 20
Source: Global Wellness Institute.
Idle Thought
"Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong." -- Leo Buscaglia
(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.)