Percentage of Americans who say it is "very or somewhat important" for them to be wealthy, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center's Social and Demographic Trends project: 57

Percentage who say it is not important at all: 10

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Percentage of American workers who say talking about television at work increases office camaraderie, according to a Spherion survey: 40

According to women, ranks of "American Idol" (36 percent) and "Dancing With the Stars" (21 percent) as the two most discussed TV programs at work: 1, 2

According to men, ranks of "American Idol" (36 percent) and "Lost" (15 percent) as the two most discussed TV programs at work: 1, 2

Source: Spherion.

Percentage of Web users in the U.S. and the U.K. who say they use just one password for all their online accounts, according to a survey conducted by Accenture: 49

Percentage of Americans who say they don't write down their passwords: 49

Source: Accenture.

Percentage of employers who say personal characteristics are the most important factor when assessing college graduates for potential employment, according to a survey conducted by Monster: 43

Percentage of prospective graduates who expect to receive two or more job offers upon graduation: 73

Source: MonsterTRAK.

Percentage of advertising and marketing executives who said "acclimating to a firm's corporate culture" is the greatest challenge for professionals starting a new job, according to a survey by the Creative Group: 42

Percentage who cited "learning new business protocols" as the greatest challenge: 30

Percentage who said "adapting to a new manager's style": 11

Source: Robert Half International.

Percentage of U.S. workers who say women are treated differently than men in the workplace, according to a study conducted by Adecco: 59

Percentage who say women are treated worse than men: 42

Percentage who say women are treated better: 17

Source: Adecco.

Percentage of Americans who are awake by 7 a.m., ready for work and out the door in an hour or less, according to a survey conducted by Braun Research for Panera Bread: 80

Percentage who eat breakfast every day: 61

Percentage who say they would opt for a good breakfast over 15 minutes of extra sleep: 75

Source: Panera Bread.

Percentage of all employed executives who report they are satisfied with their current jobs, according to a survey by ExecuNet: 60

Ranks of "boredom" and "a lack of advancement" as the sources of discontent among employed executives who are not satisfied with their current jobs: 1, 2

Of executives who are not satisfied, the percentage who pointed toward compensation as the reason they're looking to leave their current company: 12

Source: ExecuNet.

Rank of the Commercial Bank of China among the world's largest banks in terms of market capitalization at the end of 2007, according to a study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group: 1

Number of Chinese banks among the world's top four banks in terms of market capitalization at the end of 2007: 3

Source: Boston Consulting Group.

Annual projected salary for a stay-at-home mother, based on the time spent performing the 10 most popular "mom job" functions -- housekeeper, day care center teacher, cook, laundry machine operator, computer operator, psychologist, facilities manager, van driver, chief executive officer and janitor -- according to Salary.com's 2008 determination: $116,805

Annual projected salary for a working mom: $68,405

Source: Salary.com.

Idle Thought

"I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves." -- Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600

Percentage of women who cite "financial strain" as a major threat to the American family, according to findings of a nationwide survey by Meredith Corp. and NBC Universal: 68

Percentage who also cite "divorce" as a major threat: 48

Percentage who also cite "loss of faith/spirituality": 47

Source: Meredith Corp.

Percentage of employment screenings in 2007 that turned up criminal record convictions, or "hits," according to a study conducted by Kroll: 9.5

Ranks of construction, automotive and retail among the industries with the highest criminal record hit ratios in 2007: 1, 2, 3

Source: Kroll.

Percentage of Americans who say the dream to own a home is still attainable for most citizens, according to a survey conducted by Zogby International: 51

Percentage of Americans who say they spend more than 30 percent of their household budget on housing — which according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), indicates that they are "cost burdened": 43

Source: Zogby International.

Percentage of Americans who said they don't feel like they have the free time in the evenings that they had five years ago, according to a survey conducted by StrategyOne for Listerine Antiseptic: 55

Percentage who agree that Americans are working longer days than ever before: 80

Source: Edelman.

Annual cost of global piracy to the U.S. economy, according to "The True Cost of Copyright Industry Piracy to the U.S. Economy" study conducted for the Institute for Policy Innovation: $58 billion

Estimated cost in jobs lost: 375,000

Cost in lost annual earnings: $16.3 billion

Cost in lost tax revenue: $2.6 billion

Source: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Percentage of employees who feel more relaxed than stressed when they are connected to work by a wireless device, according to Yahoo! HotJobs' annual virtual workplace survey: 37

Percentage who are altogether indifferent to their wireless device, feeling neither relaxed nor stressed by it: 42

Source: Yahoo! HotJobs.

Percentage of employees who say they left their jobs to seek new challenges or opportunities that were lacking with their previous employers, according to a study by Buchanan Public Relations: 30

Percentage of respondents who reported leaving employers because of ineffective leadership: 25

Percentage who cited poor relationships with their managers: 22

Source: Buchanan Public Relations.

Percentage of all U.S. non-farm jobs that are in the U.S. travel economy, according to Travel Industry Association of America data: 12.5

Number of jobs this represents: 7.5 million

Percentage of the U.S. total gross domestic product that is attributable to the travel industry: 3

Source: Travel Industry Association of America.

Average net worth of a major league baseball (MLB) team in 2008, according to a study conducted by Forbes: $472 million

Net worth of the New York Yankees, the most valuable MLB team: $1.3 billion

Ranks of the New York Mets, the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers as the next most valuable teams: 2, 3, 4

Source: Forbes.

Estimated value of all U.S. consumer spending for Mother's Day in 2008, according to a study conducted by the National Retail Federation and BIGresearch: $15.8 billion

Percentage of consumers celebrating Mother's Day who say they will purchase one major gift for their mother rather than several smaller gifts: 84.2

Ranks of special dinner or brunch, jewelry, gift cards/gift certificates, flowers, and clothing and accessories among the most popular Mother's Day gifts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: BIGresearch.

Idle Thought

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." -- Abraham Lincoln

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600

Percentage of the nation's top divorce attorneys who say they have seen an increase in the number of cases using electronic data as evidence during the past five years, according to a survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers: 88

Percentage who cited e-mail as the main source and most commonly used form of technological evidence: 82

Percentage who reported an increase in the frequency of Internet browser histories being used as evidence in divorce cases during the past five years: 79

Source: American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

Percentage of executives in the U.S. and Canada who feel that they would benefit from an international etiquette course (that is when and whether one should shake hands, give a kiss on the cheek or bow when greeting an overseas colleague), according to the results of a survey by OfficeTeam: 62

Source: Robert Half International.

Percentage of American executives who say they are at least somewhat concerned about their CEO's compensation, according to a survey conducted by Korn/Ferry International: 34

Percentage who said the same in 2007: 21

Percentage who said their CEO compensation matched their organization's performance: 42

Source: Korn/Ferry International.

Percentage of all Americans who are very happy, according to a Harris Poll: 35

Percentage of people who describe themselves as "very religious" who consider themselves as very happy: 45

Percentage of people who describe themselves as "not religious" who consider themselves as very happy: 28

Percentage of people in the 18 to 24 age bracket who are very happy according to the survey: 29

Percentage of people age 65 and older who are very happy: 47

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of the U.S. population that is considered to be clinically obese (a body mass index greater than 30), according to IBISWorld: 34

Annual estimated direct health costs attributable to obesity: $75 billion

Estimated annual expenditure on weight-loss products and services, including medical procedures and pharmaceuticals: $44 billion to $55 billion

Percentage of that spending garnered by weight-loss centers: 6 to 12

Source: IBISWorld.

Year that Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1914

Percentage of women age 40 to 44 who are mothers: 81

In 1976, percentage of women in that age group who were mothers: 90

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of U.S. employees who say they know someone who has taken Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave, according to a survey conducted by Tell It Now and ComPsych Corp.: 77

Percentage of U.S. employees who say a colleague's reason for FMLA leave was "questionable": 6

Source: ComPsych Corp.

Percentage of Americans who oppose the federal government taking steps to help prevent major Wall Street investment companies from failing, according to a Gallup Poll: 60

Percentage of Americans who support having the federal government take steps to help prevent people from losing their homes because they can't pay their mortgages: 56

Source: Gallup.

Of 16 major nations surveyed around the world (including the U.S.), number of countries where majorities think that oil is running out and that governments should make a major effort to find new sources of energy, according to a WorldPublicOpinion.org poll: 15

Ranks of South Korea (97 percent), France (91 percent), Great Britain (85 percent), Mexico (83 percent) and China (80 percent) as the countries where the largest majorities endorse this view: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Percentage of the U.S. population that endorses this view: 76

Source: PIPA/WorldPublicOpinion.org.

Value of the soy food and beverage market in 2007, according to a report from Packaged Facts: $2 billion

Percentage rise from 2006: 7

Source: Packaged Facts.

Idle Thought

"A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval." -- Mark Twain

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600