Percentage of employees who report excessive pressure to get work done, according to the 2014 Global Workforce Study and the 2014 Global Talent Management and Rewards Study by Towers Watson: 33

Percentage of all respondents who ask managers for help to cope with stress: 27

Percentage of employees who say their organization should understand them to the same degree they are expected to understand customers: 70

Source: Towers Watson.

Percentage of 2014 grads who say "making a lot of money" is more important in their job than "making a difference" who are in full-time positions (compared to 28 percent of those who think the reverse), according to a survey by CareerBuilder.com: 51

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of Internet users who agree with the statement "people who use online dating sites are desperate" -- down from the 29 percent in 2005: 21

Percentage of all Americans who know an online dater: 42

Among adults, percentage of all committed relationships in America today that began online: 5

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

Of the 25 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, number where a median-income household can afford a median-priced home, according to a new Interest.com report: 10

Ranks of Minneapolis, Atlanta, St. Louis and Detroit on the list of cities where a median-income household can afford a median-priced home: 1, 2, 3, 4

Ranks of San Francisco, San Diego, New York and Los Angeles on the list of areas where a median-income household can least afford a median-priced home: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Interest.com.

Since 2000, percentage increase in the number of breast augmentation procedures, according to polls taken by the National Institutes of Health: 45

Percentage of people who said they would consider plastic surgery procedures, up from 23 percent 14 years ago: 54

Percentage of respondents who state they would not view someone who underwent cosmetic surgery negatively: 72

Source: Beverly Hills Physicians.

Percentage of parents who say their kids are more tech-savvy than they are, according to a poll commissioned by BullGuard: 53

Percentage of parents who say it would ease their mind if parental controls were installed on devices connected to the Internet: 84

Source: BullGuard.

Percentage of Americans who say they recycle 75 percent or more of their recyclable items, according to a survey conducted for Plastics Make It Possible: 50

Among those who say they don't recycle all the time, percentage who say it's because they don't know which plastic items are recyclable: 28

Source: Plastics Make It Possible.

Percentage of Americans who deem it "unacceptable" to drive when they are so tired that they have a hard time keeping their eyes open, according to research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety: 95

Percentage who admit to doing so in the last month: 28

Source: AAA.

Year that Massachusetts Bay Colony authorities ordered that every township with 50 or more householders assign at least one person to teach children to read and write, with the teachers paid by the children's parents or the general village population: 1647

Estimated amount of money that state and local governments spend annually: $3.2 trillion

Percentage that goes to education ($861 billion): 27

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of adults in the U.S. who say there is an area within a mile of where they live where they would be afraid to walk alone at night, according to a Gallup Poll: 37

Percentage of women (compared with 27 percent of men) who say they do not feel safe walking alone at night: 45

Source: Gallup Organization.

Idle Thought

"Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity." -- Albert Camus, writer

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

Median number of vacation days available to employed Europeans, according to the results of a survey by Expedia: 28

Approximate number of vacation days available to U.S. workers: 15

Approximate number of vacation days taken by U.S. workers: 14

Percentage of Americans who feel "very" or "somewhat" vacation deprived: 54

Source: Expedia.

Ranks of saving more (55 percent), paying off debt (20 percent) and spending less (17) percent) on the list of top three financial resolutions, according to The Fidelity New Year Financial Resolutions Study: 1, 2, 3

Of those who say they made a resolution at the start of 2014, percentage who now feel they are better off financially: 51

Of those who did not make a resolution, percentage who can say the same: 38

Source: Fidelity Investments.

Percentage of Americans who say colleges should treat student-athletes as amateurs who compete primarily for love of the sport and educational opportunities -- and that they should not be compensated beyond scholarships, according to a national survey by the Saint Leo University Polling Institute: 50

Percentage of people who say that the focus of college sports should be opportunities to participate: 71

Percentage who say that the focus should be producing the highest level of play possible: 30

Source: Saint Leo University Polling Institute.

On Billionaire.com's top 10 list of the world's most expensive properties, number for sale that are in the United States: 5

Ranks of The Manor, Los Angeles ($150 million), Beverly House, Los Angeles ($135 million) and Rancho San Carlos, California ($125 million), as the three most expensive properties in the U.S.: 1, 2, 3

Source: Billionaire.com.

Percentage of workers who stated that communicating the value of their work to company leadership was difficult, according to a survey commissioned by AtTask: 55

Ranks of conflicting priorities (29 percent) and lack of communication or miscommunication (22 percent) on the list of the most common sources of conflict with other departments, groups or teams: 1, 2

Percentage of workers who say lost productivity is among the most common consequences of conflict with other teams: 39

Source: AtTask.

Percentage of executives who say their businesses will expand in 2015, according to a survey conducted by Korn/Ferry: 74

Source: Korn/Ferry International.

In the U.S., percentage of people over age 5 who speak a language other than English at home, according to the Census Bureau: 21

Number of people this percentage represents: 61 million

Of those, number who speak Spanish, the most widely spoken non-English language: 37 million

Number who speak several Chinese variants: 2.8 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Ranks of Facebook Messenger (53 percent) and Skype (45 percent) as the preferred application among messaging app users, according to Parks Associates: 1, 2

Source: Parks Associates.

Percentage of small business owners who choose alternative financing options over traditional bank loans, according to a study of small business owners conducted by Merchant Cash and Capital: 40

Percentage who received cash loans from family and friends: 33

Source: Merchant Cash and Capital.

Date that President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law, according to Harris Interactive: Dec. 28, 1973

Percentage drop in population sizes of vertebrate species between 1970 and 2010, according to the World Wildlife Fund: 50

Percentage of adults who believe that variety among life-forms on Earth, also known as biodiversity, is important to the well-being of humans: 90

Source: Harris Interactive.

Idle Thought

"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." -- Ella Wheeler Wilcox, poet

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

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.)