Amount spent annually by U.S. marketers targeting children, up from $100 million in 1983: $17 billion

Average number of hours per week that U.S. children now spend in front of television screens, more hours than in any other activity besides sleeping: 40

Percentage of U.S. babies under the age of 1 who have a television in their bedroom: 19

Source: WorldWatch Institute.

Year that Arthur Mosher Butts, an unemployed architect who developed the board game Scrabble to pass the time with his friends during the Great Depression, was born: 1899

When the game was marketed by Macy's, amount of royalty per game that Butts received: 3 cents

Estimated number of sets that have been sold worldwide: 150 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Amount that the average woman spends per year on haircuts, according to ShopSmart Consumer Reports: $195

Estimated amount she spends on color alone: $260

Percentage of women who are trying to save money by going to the salon less often: 33

Percentage of women who have had a mood affected by a bad hair day: 44

Source: Consumer Reports.

Percentage of Americans who see the growth in reality television shows as a change for the better, according to Pew Research: 8

Percentage who say the shows have been a change for the worse: 63

Source: Pew Internet and American Life.

Percentage of Americans who said their financial professional has not broached the topic of how to fund potential long-term-care costs, according to a survey sponsored by Genworth Financial companies: 91

Percentage of Americans who say that fear of upsetting family members is the biggest barrier to talking about long-term-care plans: 65

Percentage who say becoming a family burden is their biggest concern: 55

Source: Genworth Financial.

Percentage salary premium that professionals with "cyber" on their resume can command as both the public and private sectors are becoming more aggressive in building their security-talent pipeline, according to the Dice Report: 20

As of April 1, 2010, the number of available tech jobs: 62,067

Source: Dice.

Average American mainstream videogame industry salary in 2009, a decline of more than 4 percent from 2008's figure of $79,000, according to Game Developer Research, the analysis arm of leading videogame industry publications Game Developer magazine and Gamasutra: $75,573

Source: fortyseven communications.

Percentage of women 50 years of age and older who singled out Meryl Streep as the celebrity who best personifies "50-plus Fabulous," according to a survey sponsored by Vichy Laboratories: 46

Percentage of women over 50 who reported that they experienced changes in the appearance of their skin, including increased dryness, increased wrinkles and a sagging neck once they entered menopause: 82

Source: Vichy.

Percentage of Americans who are seriously concerned about identity theft, according to the results of the Unisys Security Index: 64

Percentage who are also seriously concerned about credit and debit card fraud: 62

Percentage of Americans who are seriously concerned about the security of online transactions -- the highest level since the Unisys Security Index began three years ago: 43

Source: Unisys.

Percentage of chief information officers who have implemented stricter social networking policies, according to a survey developed by Robert Half Technology: 38

Percentage of technology executives who are reining in personal use of social media: 23

According to a previous study, percentage of companies that have social networking policies that ban the use of social networking altogether: 55

Source: Robert Half Technology.

Idle Thought

"We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin." -- Andre Berthiaume, novelist

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

Percentage of Americans who believe that more than half of every tax dollar is wasted, according to a Gallup Poll: 35

Percentage who said a number between 26 and 50 cents: 33

Source: Gallup.

Number of times more per month that men who shave regularly (five times a week or more) enjoy sex than do infrequent shavers, according to the Schick Skin-dex survey, a national research poll conducted by StrategyOne: 2

On average, amount they earn more per year than infrequent shavers, also making them more likely to own luxury items: $15,100

Source: Schick Skin-dex.

Percentage of highly engaged respondents (895 technology stakeholders and critics) who agreed with the statement that "by 2020, innovative forms of online cooperation will result in significantly more efficient and responsive governments, business, non-profits and other mainstream institutions," according to a survey fielded by the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project and Elon University's Imagining the Internet Center: 72

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Percentage of U.S. adults who say they or a family member has lost a job in the past year, according to the results of a survey by Zogby: 27

Percentage of the unemployed who have been out of work for more than a year: 59

Source: Zogby International.

Percentage of retailers (realizing that the relationship between retail employees and customers is high on the list of critical success factors for the industry) who rank leadership development as critical to their organizations' success, according to the Deloitte/National Retail Federation Survey: 83

Percentage of retailers who said they do not have the HR technology (e.g., candidate identification, learning and training systems) to support talent management within their organizations: 41

Source: Deloitte LLP.

Percentage of workers who think there is "just the right amount" of tension in their place of work, according to a survey by Healthy Companies International: 41

Percentage who said there's too much tension in their workplace: 25

Source: Healthy Companies International.

Percentage of total compensation for CEOs that is made up by equity compensation, according to a study of 76 early tax filers with revenues greater than $10 billion by Steven Hall and Partners: 56

Percentage that are bonuses and other cash-based incentives: 24

Percentage that is base salary: 20

Source: Steven Hall and Partners.

Rank of "employees not getting raises" on the list of the most difficult aspects of the current recession, according to a survey from the International Association of Administrative Professionals: 1

Of those surveyed, percentage of workers who said they haven't gotten a raise: 27

Source: International Association of Administrative Professionals.

Percentage of financial advisers who say their clients are not concerned with covering basic needs in retirement, but rather with having to give up luxuries such as traveling and dining out -- and that this concern is a driving motivation behind working longer, according to a survey released by MainStay Investments: 61

Percentage of advisers who also cited loss of assets in late 2008 and early 2009 as a reason clients are postponing retirement: 46

Source: MainStay Investments.

Number of job seekers for every available position in March, down from 6 candidates per opportunity the previous month, according to the U.S. Department of Labor: 5.4

Source: ClearRock.

Idle Thought

"No man is a hero to his valet." -- Madame Cornuel, society hostess

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

Percentage of the information in their driving environment that drivers who use cell phones have a tendency to "look at" but not "see," a form of inattention blindness that results in drivers having difficulty monitoring their surroundings, seeking and identifying potential hazards, and/or responding to unexpected situations, according to The National Safety Council: 50

At any time, percentage of all drivers who are using cell phones, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: 11

According to NSC estimates, percentage of motor vehicle crashes that involve cell phone use at the time of the crash: 25

Source: National Safety Council.

Percentage of people who believe it is possible for themselves and their families to achieve the American Dream, according to a Zogby interactive survey: 57

Percentage who believed they could achieve the American Dream immediately following the November election: 67

When asked the same question in July 2001, less than two months before the Sept. 11 attacks, percentage who said they could achieve the American Dream: 76

Source: Zogby International.

Annual loss to the U.S. economy through piracy and counterfeiting, according to the study, "The True Cost of Copyright Piracy to the U.S. Economy" by The Institute for Policy Innovation: $58 billion

Cost in jobs for U.S. workers: 373,375

Source: Institute for Policy Innovation.

Percentage of Americans who believe the U.S. is the No. 1 military power in the world today, according to a Gallup Poll: 64

Percentage who believe that the U.S. will be No. 1 militarily in 20 years: 36

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of CFOs who said they plan to promote top performers as the economy improves in order to retain employees, according to a survey by Accountemps: 50

Percentage who also plan to raise salaries: 48

Percentage who will do nothing: 24

Source: Accountemps.

In 1911, number of young women who died in one of the most horrifying fires in U.S. history at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, with many trapped behind a fire escape door locked in violation of the law: 146

Today, estimated number of fire departments around the nation that are on duty to help avoid such tragedies: 30,000

Estimated number of people who staff these stations today: 1.1 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of organizations with strong learning cultures that report high employee productivity, according to a Bersin and Associates study: 96

Percentage that report high customer satisfaction: 94

Source: Bersin and Associates.

Percentage of Americans who say that buying a used car is what they will do once their current car stops running, according to a survey conducted for CarMax: 30

Percentage who said that they purchased a car in the past year despite the recession: 18

Percentage who say that they are ready for a new car, but will buy a used car to be smart: 7

Source: CarMax Inc.

Percentage of women 45 and older who say they feel sluggish at least once a week during the winter, according to a survey fielded by Kellogg Co. and Braun Research: 61

Percentage who attribute this to unhealthy eating, especially during the winter months, which are often marked by heavier comfort foods and less frequent exercise: 66

Percentage who attribute it to less frequent exercise: 77

Source: Braun Research.

Estimated amount of money that Africa lost in illicit financial outflows from 1970 through 2008, according to a report released from Global Financial Integrity: $854 billion

Ratio of illicit financial outflows from the entire region compared to official development assistance going into the region: 2 to 1

Source: Global Financial Integrity.

Idle Thought

"Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work." -- Stephen King, author

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