Age at which a child's habits regarding chores, studying and media consumption do not change without parental intervention, according to findings by the Learning Habit: 9

Percentage of parents who report that their child will quit when asked to perform a strenuous or difficult task: 40

Number of minutes of homework per grade in school that was positively correlated with children's grade point averages (excess time on academic homework showed no additional benefit): 10

Source: Good Parent Inc.

Percentage of American workers who are late for work at least once a week, according to a survey by YouGov: 19

Percentage who are never late: 48

Source: YouGov.

Ranks of frozen pipes (average claim $18,000), hail damage (average claim $10,000) and tree collapse ($6,000) on the list of the top three costliest winter weather claims, according to The Hartford insurance analysis: 1, 2, 3

Source: Hartford Insurance.

Percentage of Americans with debt who say they will never get out of it, according to a new CreditCards.com report: 18

On average, age at which Americans expect to achieve debt-free status (including credit card debt, car loans, student loans, mortgages and other types of debt): 53

Source: Creditcards.com.

Percentage of men who are likely to admit to having passed gas around others, compared with 30 percent of women, according to findings by Omnibus for YouGov: 41

Percentage of women who are likely to admit to having talked to someone while watching a film, compared to 28 percent of men: 42

Source: YouGov.

On average, percentage increase in car insurance premiums after a claim, according to an InsuranceQuotes.com report: 38

Average percentage increase in homeowner's insurance premiums after a claim: 9

Percentage of Americans who think it's unfair that denied claims can cause car and homeowner's insurance rates to rise, which can even be true of potential claims that were never filed but were discussed with an insurance agent: 84

Source: InsuranceQuotes.com.

Population of Florida in 1910, according to the Population Reference Bureau: 752,619

Population of Florida in 2013: 19,552,860

Expected date when the Sunshine State is believed to have passed the Empire State in population: July 2014

Source: Population Reference Bureau.

Year that James Smith, a restaurant owner in Poughkeepsie, New York, cooked up the first batch of cough drops, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1847

Estimated number of drugstores in the country, selling some $11.7 billion worth of cough drops and other nonprescription medicines annually: 40,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Ranks of Vail and Aspen, Colorado, and Park City, Utah, on the list of the top ski resorts in the U.S., according to members of the American Society of Travel Agents: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of Whistler, Canada, Zermatt, Switzerland, and St. Moritz, Switzerland, on the list of the top international ski resorts: 1, 2, 3

Source: American Society of Travel Agents.

Estimated number of hours that today's children spend per week in extracurricular activities, according to a Liberty Mutual study: 20

Percentage of parents who say they drive and/or host other children in their home: 83

Source: Liberty Mutual Insurance.

Idle Thought

"If only I may grow: firmer, simpler -- quieter, warmer." -- Dag Hammarskjold, Secretary General of the United Nations 1953-1961, Nobel laureate

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

Percentage of Americans who volunteered through an organization in 2014, according to research by the Corporation for National and Community Service and the National Conference on Citizenship: 25.4

Altogether, estimated number of hours Americans volunteered last year: 7.7 billion

Estimated value of this volunteer service, based on the average value of a volunteer hour: $173 billion

Source: Corporation for National and Community Service.

When American adults were asked to consider the top three people they admire enough to call a hero, percentage who listed a family member, with 26 percent specifically referencing parents, according to a Harris poll: 32

Source: Harris Interactive.

With winter officially under way, record low winter temperature among continental U.S. cities, held by Bismarck, North Dakota, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 45 degrees below zero

Absolute coldest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. -- at Prospect Creek, Alaska, on Jan. 23, 1971: 80 degrees below zero

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of Americans who say they typically consider New Year's resolutions regarding their finances, according to the Fidelity New Year Financial Resolutions Study: 40 (down from 54 percent in 2013)

Percentage of respondents who are actually considering financial resolutions for 2015, down from 43 percent last year: 31

Source: Fidelity Investments.

Percentage of Americans who say that poor or insufficient sleep affected their daily activities at least once in the past seven days, according to the National Sleep Foundation: 45

Percentage who reported that they did not wake up feeling refreshed on any of the past seven days: 20

Percentage of those with less than good sleep quality who also report "poor" or "only fair" health: 67

Source: National Sleep Foundation.

Percentage of never-married Americans who would like to eventually tie the knot, according to a Pew Research Center report: 53

Among never-married women interested in marriage, percentage who said that it is "very important" to them that a potential spouse has a steady job: 78

Percentage of never-married men who said the same: 46

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

Percentage of American travelers who tabbed the back-bruising "rear seat kicker" as No. 1 on the list of the most aggravating airplane passengers, according to an Expedia survey: 67

Ranks of inattentive parents, the aromatic passenger, the audio insensitive and the boozer on the list: 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Expedia.

Percentage of North American employees who plan to pursue new career opportunities in 2015, according to a poll by Right Management: 86

Percentage who say "Maybe -- I'm networking": 8

Source: Right Management.

Rank of Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma, the former English teacher-turned-billionaire entrepreneur, on the list of this year's biggest financial gainers, according to Wealth-X: 1

Percentage increase in Ma's fortune this year (from $10.7 billion to $29.2 billion): 173

Ranks of Warren Buffett (23 percent increase), Bill Gates, the world's richest man, (14 percent increase), Mark Zuckerberg (34 percent) and Patrick Drahi (65 percent) on the list of this year's biggest financial gainers: 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of American adults who say they will probably or definitely purchase a wearable device of some type in the next 12 months, pushing this category ahead of other popular tech gear, including streaming media devices, eReaders and 4K TVs, according to research conducted by Ipsos MediaCT: 18

Percentage of adults who are very familiar with wearable computers: 41

Source: Ipsos MediaCT.

Idle Thought

"Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way." -- Alice Childress, playwright, author

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

Percentage of Americans in a committed relationship who believe that the simple act of holding hands regularly makes a relationship stronger, according to a survey conducted by Forevermark: 94

Percentage of Americans who hold hands often who say they are completely satisfied with their relationships, compared to just 35 percent of those who hold hands less often: 71

Percentage who feel that when their significant other reaches out for their hand, their mood immediately improves: 96

Source: Forevermark.

Rank of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who made the largest donation of 2014 by giving $2.1 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the form of 16.6 million shares of his company, Berkshire Hathaway, on the list of the 10 single biggest charitable donors of 2014, according to Wealth-X: 1

Rank of Nicholas Woodman, the founder and CEO of GoPro, who gave $497.5 million to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation: 2

Source: Wealth-X.

Amount of money that U.S. retailers report collectively losing in merchandise annually, according to a specialized research council formed by 40 major retail chains and a specialized University of Florida research team: $45 billion

Amount of that per year that is due to shoplifting: $10 billion

Rank of December on the list of months when most shoplifting occurs: 1

Source: Loss Prevention Research Council.

Percentage of U.S. adults who have some type of goal that they would like to achieve in the new year, according to an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Strayer University: 93

Percentage of adults who have health-related goals, such as being more active, eating more healthily or getting more sleep: 54

Percentage who have a socially oriented goal, such as spending more time with family or friends, getting involved more in their community, meeting new people, broadening their circle of friends or joining a club or organization: 37

Percentage who have a leisure-related goal, such as traveling more or taking up a hobby: 34

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of ties sold annually that are Christmas gifts, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 20

Today in the U.S., estimated value of the necktie business per year: $390 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of adults who admitted to getting carried away with Christmas spending so that they end spending more than they can afford, according to a survey conducted by ComRes on behalf of Theos: 26

Percentage of consumers who do not plan their Christmas spending: 24

Source: ComRes.

Percentage of Americans who say that their top financial priority is getting caught up on bills, according to a Bankrate.com survey: 41

Percentage who cited paying down debt: 22

Source: Bankrate Inc.

Weight of New York City's famous Waterford crystal ball that begins its descent at 11:59 p.m. on New Year's Eve, according to the Times Square Visitors Center: 11,875 pounds

Year that the New Year's Eve ball made its maiden descent from the flagpole atop One Times Square: 1907

Number of versions of the ball that have been designed to signal the new year: 7

Number of 25-watt light bulbs that adorned the first New Year's Eve ball, made of iron and wood: 100

Source: Times Square Visitors Center.

Percentage of all Americans who make resolutions for the new year, according to the Journal of Clinical Psychology published by University of Scranton: 50

In 2013, percentage of those looking for improvement in the New Year who actually achieved it: 8

Source: University of Scranton.

Rank of Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman on this year's list of the 25 most liked celebrities in the country, according to a consumer survey conducted by E-Score: 1

Rank of Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and Betty White, on the list: 2, 3, 4

Source: E-Score.

Idle Thought

"There are two possible outcomes: If the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery." -- Enrico Fermi, physicist and Nobel laureate

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