Percentage of women who believe homeownership is essential in defining the American Dream, according to a Home Buyer Poll released by TD Bank: 64

Percentage of men who feel owning a home is important: 52

Percentage of women who consider family and children to be essential parts of the American Dream: 60

Source: TD Bank.

Average number of minutes it takes an 18- to 24-year-old in the U.S. to have a shower, a full nine minutes longer than the optimum shower time recommended to conserve water, according to a survey conducted by AXE: 17-plus minutes

Average shower duration in America: 8.2 minutes

Source: Unilever.

Number of unmarried people (widowed, divorced and never married) in America age 18 and older in 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau study America's Families and Living Arrangements -- 2011: 102 million

Percentage of all U.S. residents 18 and older this represents: 44.1

Percentage of unmarried U.S. residents 18 and older in 2011 who had never been married: 62

Percentage who were divorced: 24

Percentage who were widowed: 14

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of Americans who say they are in the lower-middle or lower class, up from 25 percent in the past four years, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center: 33

Percentage of those in the lower class who say that hard work brings success, a view expressed by overwhelming majorities of those in the middle (67 percent) and upper classes (71 percent): 51

Source: Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends.

Amount of money that repairs, replacements and insurance deductibles for cracked, dropped, pummeled, kicked and water-damaged iPhones has cost Americans since their introduction in 2007, according to a study by SquareTrade: $5.9 billion

In the last 12 months alone, percentage of iPhone users who have damaged their device: 30

Number of times more common accidental damage is than loss or theft: 10

Source: SquareTrade.

Percentage of moms who report that they feel overwhelmed by financial burdens, according to findings of the Mom Money IQ Test released by CafeMom and Chase Blueprint: 70

Of moms who are actively managing their family's finances, percentage who report that they feel they are doing a good job month to month: 67

Percentage of respondents who tend to disagree with their partner on how they manage their finances: 59

Source: CafeMom.

Estimated number of Americans who remain unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: 12.5 million

According to The Associated Press, percentage of bachelor's degree-holders under the age of 25 who are jobless or underemployed in the United States: 53.6

Source: Career Advisory Board.

When American voters were asked whether they currently fact-check claims made by political ads, percentage who said they frequently do, according to a survey by Politcal.com: 55

Percentage who said they sometimes or never do: 45

Source: Political.com.

Percentage of adults who say that if they were to upgrade their cellphone, it would be because their contract is over and they are eligible for an upgrade, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of RetailMeNot.com: 42

Percentage who say it would be because they want another type of phone; switching from an Android (7 percent), an iPhone (4 percent) or a BlackBerry (2 percent) to another type of phone: 13

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

Rank of "no longer need their car" on the list of reasons why of drivers across the country want out of a vehicle lease, according to a national leasing survey from Swapalease.com: 1

Ranks of financial concerns, want a new car and lifestyle changes on the list: 2, 3, 4

Source: Swapalease.com.

Idle Thought

"Ah, good taste, what a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness." -- Pablo Picasso

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

Among those at least age 8 at the time, percentage who say they remember where they were when they first heard the news that Nixon had resigned, according to Pew Research Center for People and the Press: 71

Percentage of adults who remember where they were or what they were doing the moment they heard the news about the terror attacks of 9/11: 97

Percentage of Americans age 8 or older at that time who say they can recall where they were or what they were doing when they heard of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963: 95

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

Percentage of respondents who indicated that they expect their friends and family to respond to Facebook posts within one hour, according to the results from the 2012 Life on Demand Study by Performics: 41

If they don't receive a response within an expected time frame, of those who indicate they care, percentage who are annoyed: 49

Source: Performics.

"This program is brought to you by ..." -- year in which those words or ones close to them were heard as the first commercial on the new medium of radio, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1912

Cost charged by Station WEAF in New York City for that first ad -- not for soap or automobiles, but for a group of apartment buildings in Queens: $100 for 10 minutes of programming

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

When asked from a list of items which would be the most difficult to live without, percentage of geeks who chose pen and paper over devices such as a computer (58 percent), smartphone (41 percent) and MP3 player (25 percent), according to a survey by Modis: 71

Source: Modis.

Percentage of last year's graduates who say they were definitely delaying getting married, vs. 8 percent among those who graduated at least seven years ago, according to a survey of graduates of public and private colleges and universities across the country conducted by the College Savings Foundation: 19

Percentage of recent grads who have definitely delayed having children for financial reasons, vs. 13.5 percent among those out of school for seven-plus years: 21

Source: College Savings Foundation.

Rank of "exercise and eating right" on the list of ways to feel "irresistible" for both genders, according to a survey by YourTango.com: 1

For men, ranks of "having sex" and "spending quality time with your significant other" on the list: 2, 3

For women, rank of "buying a new outfit/accessories" and "spending quality time with your significant other" on the list: 2, 3

Source: YourTango.com.

Percentage of employers who believe that the use of curse words brings the employee's professionalism into question, according to a CareerBuilder Survey: 81

Percentage of employers who worry about the lack of maturity demonstrated by swearing at work: 68

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

When buying ice cream or other frozen novelties, percentage of people who say they base their decision on flavor, according to Mintel research: 94

Percentage who look at price: 83

Percentage who look for a sale or promotion: 72

Source: Mintel.

Percentage of Americans who currently have a pet, according to the results of The Harris Poll: 60

Percentage of pet owners who say they consider their pet to be a member of their family -- a sentiment that remains constant among owners of dogs (94 percent) and/or cats (91 percent): 91

Percentage of pet owners who say they frequently let their pet sleep in the bed with them: 51

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of employees who say they had experienced major life or work changes (move, death of a loved one, change in job responsibilities, etc.) in the past year, according to the results from a study by ComPsych Corp.: 52

Percentage who had trouble coping with stress load: 15

Percentage of employees who have high blood pressure: 29

Percentage who have high cholesterol: 25

Source: ComPsych Corp.

Idle Thought

"The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise." -- Alden Nowlan, poet, novelist and playwright (1933-1983)

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

Of the 56 million elementary and high school students enrolled this fall, percentage who will attend private schools, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 11

Estimated number of private schools across the nation: 34,000

Estimated number of public schools: 99,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of working adults who are willing to give up some percentage of their salary for more flexibility at work, according to findings from a survey conducted on behalf of Mom Corps: 45

Average percentage of their salary that working adults are willing to relinquish -- significantly higher than the amount noted in last year's survey (5.8 percent): 8.6

Source: Mom Corps.

Ranks of software developers, systems software; physical therapists and assistants; software developers, applications; market research analysts/data miners; cost estimators and database developers on the list of the top 10 hot careers for 2012, according to a research team at the University of California San Diego: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Source: University of California San Diego Extension.

Percentage of counseling professionals who agree that wives should prioritize their husbands over their kids, according to a survey by YourTango.com: 50

Percentage of experts who say working parents should share parenting duties equally: 96

Contrary to common "wisdom," percentage of experts who disagree with the assertion that couples without kids are happier than couples with kids: 78

Source: YourTango.com.

Percentage of working Americans who said they remain with their current employers because of benefits, according to a survey by the American Psychological Association: 60

Percentage who reported staying because of the pay: 59

Percentage of respondents who said they choose to stay because their jobs fit well with the other aspects of their lives: 67

Source: APA.

Mile for mile, number of times higher the crash rate is for drivers ages 16 and 17 than for middle-aged drivers, according to a special report by Consumer Reports: 9

Mile for mile, number of times higher the fatal crash rate is for drivers 80 and older than for middle-aged drivers: 5.5

Source: Consumer Reports.

Among adults who have children of driving age, percentage who said that they had to buy their own first car vs. 14 percent who said that their parents purchased it for them, according to a survey conducted by AutoTrader.com: 53

Percentage of those same adults who bought their child's first car for them: 41

Percentage of their children who purchased their first car for themselves: 17

Source: AutoTrader.com.

Percentage of Americans who estimate they wash their hands for just five to 15 seconds, according to findings of the fourth annual Healthy Hand Washing Survey conducted by Bradley Corp.: 57

Amount of time recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for hand washing -- with a suggestion to sing "Happy Birthday" twice to allow enough time to remove and rinse off germs: 20 seconds

Source: Bradley Corp.

Number of new commercial airplanes -- valued at $670 billion -- that China will need over the next 20 years, according to Boeing: 5,260

Estimated percentage of the demand in China that will be for growth instead of replacement: 75

Estimated annual percentage increase Chinese carriers are expected to experience in international expansion over the next 20 years: 8.9

Source: Boeing.

Percentage of HR managers who said their company often conducts employment interviews via video, up from just 14 percent one year ago, according to an OfficeTeam survey: 63

Percentage of respondents who think their organization will use video more frequently to meet with applicants in the next three years: 13

Source: OfficeTeam.

Amount of money paid out by the long-term-care insurance industry in 2011 in claim benefits to over 200,000 individuals, according to an American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance study: $6.6 billion

Source: AALTCI.

Idle Thought

"The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice." -- Ernest Hemingway

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