oddities

Figuratively Speaking for August 05, 2016

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | August 5th, 2016

Percentage of two-parent households in which both parents work full time, up from 31 percent in 1970, according to the Pew Research Center: 46

Percentage of households where a father works full time and a mother doesn't work outside the home, down from 46 percent in 1970: 26

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

Date of Earth Overshoot Day this year, the date when humanity's annual demand on nature exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year, according to data from Global Footprint Network: Aug. 8

Rank of carbon emissions on the list of the fastest-growing contributors to ecological overshoot, now making up 60 percent of humanity's demand on nature, which is also termed an "ecological footprint": 1

During the first three months of 2016, percentage of the energy consumption of Costa Rica that was generated from renewable sources: 97

In Germany and Britain, percentage of domestic energy demand that was met solely by renewables for several minutes in May 2016 -- the first time such events had occurred: 100

Source: Global Footprint Network.

Rank of credit card payments on the list of the top identified debt across all age groups, according to a survey conducted by Fifth Third Bank: 1

Percentage of millennials who have student loan debt, their second-highest debt priority: 39

Percentage of Generation X respondents who are paying off car loans: 37

Percentage of baby boomers who are still in debt for their mortgage: 34

Source: Fifth Third Bank.

Percentage of Austrians who report having disrobed fully at a public beach, edging out Germans (25 percent) and Americans (18 percent), according to the 2016 Flip Flop Report by Expedia: 28

Worldwide, percentage of beachgoers who claim to have gone nude: 10

Ranks of Malaysians and South Koreans (2 percent), and Thai and Japanese (3 percent) on the list of the world's most modest beachgoing respondents who have sunbathed in the nude: 1, 2

Source: Expedia.

Number of states that the average American has visited, according to a study Ipsos Public Affairs conducted for Livability.com: 12.5

Ranks of Florida, California, Georgia, New York and Nevada on the list of the most-visited states: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Percentage of Americans who say they have never been to a state other than the one they currently live in: 10

Ranks of Hawaii, Alaska, California, Colorado and New York on the list of the top five states Americans most want to visit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Ipsos.

Percentage prevalence of adolescent obesity in the one-quarter of preschool-aged children tested who had early bedtimes (8 p.m. or earlier), according to a study of early child care and youth development to determine whether preschool-aged children with earlier bedtimes have a lower risk for adolescent obesity: 10

Percentage prevalence in the one-half who had bedtimes after 8 p.m. but by 9 p.m.: 16

Percentage prevalence in the one-quarter who had late bedtimes (after 9 p.m.): 23

Source: Global Wellness Institute.

Percentage of college graduates who say their college tuition was a good investment, according to a study by Bankrate.com: 89

Percentage of all Americans who echo that response: 73

Source: Bankrate.com.

When asked whether alcohol or marijuana impairs one's ability to drive a vehicle, percentage who said both equally, according to a Harris poll: 68

Percentage who said alcohol: 22

Percentage who cited marijuana: 3

Source: The Harris Poll.

Percentage of women who are calling for the media to do a better job portraying women of diverse physical appearance, age, race, shape and size, according to survey by Dove: 71

Percentage of girls who are doing the same: 67

Percentage of women who say they opt out of important life activities -- such as trying out for a team or club, and engaging with family or loved ones -- when they don't feel good about the way they look: 85

Percentage of girls who say the same: 79

Percentage of girls with low body-esteem who say they won't be assertive in their opinion or stick to their decision if they aren't happy with the way they look: 70

Source: Unilever.

Percentage of Americans who say that if they could look forward to a tax-free future, they would get an "IRS" tattoo, according to WalletHub results of its 2016 Taxpayer Survey: 27

Percentage who would clean Chipotle bathrooms: 11

Source: WalletHub.

Idle Thought

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money." -- Alexis de Tocqueville

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

oddities

Figuratively Speaking for July 29, 2016

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | July 29th, 2016

Percentage of U.S. workers who believe the traditional 9-to-5 workday is a thing of the past, according to a survey from CareerBuilder: 59

Percentage of workers who say they complete work outside of office hours: 45

Percentage who say they check or answer emails when they leave work: 49

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of Americans who have seen or heard about Pokemon Go, according to an Ipsos poll: 80

Percentage of millennials who can correctly identify a Pokemon character: 52

Percentage of those with kids at home who are likely to know a great deal about the app: 31

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of CFOs who said motivation to learn new skills is necessary to get ahead, according to a survey by staffing firm Accountemps: 30

Percentage who said interpersonal skills are necessary: 27

Percentage of respondents who said the ability to adapt easily to change is a must: 24

Percentage of CFOs who cited the willingness to work long hours as important in getting ahead: 7

Source: Accountemps.

Percentage of consumers who say that since the last recession, they are more conservative about taking on debt -- a tendency that is relatively uniform across demographic segments, according to Packaged Facts: 72

Percentage of adults who strongly agree that they are very good at managing money: 5

Percentage who strongly agree that they are financially secure: 10

Source: Packaged Facts.

Percentage of managers who say offices are more competitive today than they were 10 years ago, according to a survey by OfficeTeam: 31

Percentage of office employees who say they would leave if their office became too competitive: 43

Source: OfficeTeam.

Hispanic population of the United States, making people of Hispanic origin the nation's largest (17.6 percent) ethnic or racial minority, according to the Census Bureau: 56.8 million

Projected Hispanic population of the United States in 2060, constituting 28.6 percent of the nation's population: 119 million

Percentage of the Hispanic population in the United States that lives in California, Florida and Texas: 54.5

Source: Census Bureau.

Percentage of all U.S. adults who say they have played the state lottery, according to a Gallup poll: 49

Percentage of Americans who reported engaging in the second-most-popular mode of gambling -- visiting a casino: 26

Percentage who have participated in an office pool on the World Series, Super Bowl or other game: 15

Source: Gallup Organization.

Drop from 2008 to 2015 in percentage of employers with one to 10 employees that offer health insurance coverage, according to the Employee Benefits Research Institute: from 35.6 to 22.7

Drop in percentage among employers with 10 to 24 employees: 66.1 to 48.9

Drop in percentage for employers with 25 to 99 employees: 81.3 to 73.5

Source: EBRI.

Percentage of people with excellent credit who prefer Taylor Swift to Kanye West, according to a survey by WalletHub: 88

Percentage of people with excellent credit who are fans of Charlie Rose, while James Corden has the most fans with bad credit (41 percent): 66

Percentage of people with excellent credit who are dog lovers, while cat owners are more likely to have bad credit (40 percent): 46

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of Americans who say they are very happy this year, down from 34 percent in 2015, according to a Harris poll: 31

Percentage of U.S. adults who say they are generally happy with their life right now (suggesting that people may overstate how happy they really are): 81

Percentage who agree that they are optimistic about the future: 72

Source: The Harris Poll.

Idle Thought

"Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality." -- Warren Bennis

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

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oddities

Figuratively Speaking for July 22, 2016

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | July 22nd, 2016

Percentage of all Americans who say that housing affordability is a key issue for them, according to a recent online survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Enterprise: 59

Percentage of those surveyed who say that they have personally struggled to pay their rent or mortgage in the last 12 months, or know someone who has been in this situation: 47

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Amount that banks located in the 10 largest U.S. markets are offering their customers in cash for opening a new checking account, according to Bankrate.com: $50 to $400

In New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., amount offered by Citibank -- the most lucrative of the sign-up bonuses: $400

Amount offered by the First Republic Bank in San Francisco: $350

Source: Bankrate.com.

Cost of a gallon of regular gasoline in 1967, according to the U.S. Census Buueau (equal to $2.13 in 2015 dollars): 33 cents

Cost of a gallon of regular gas in 2016: $1.86

Price of milk in 1967 (equal to $7.32 in 2015 dollars): $1.03 gallon

Price of milk in 2016: $3.31 gallon

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of major roads in California that are in poor condition (seven times higher than in Florida, the state with the lowest percentage of roads in poor condition at 7 percent), according to WalletHub: 51

Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births in Alabama (highest in the nation -- two times higher than in California, the state with the lowest, at 4.30): 8.68

Incarceration rate per 100,000 residents age 18 or older in Louisiana (highest in the nation -- six times higher than in Maine, the state with the lowest, at 189): 1,072

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of basic security programs that cover phishing and social engineering attacks, according to the Experian Data Breach Resolution and Ponemon Institute study: 49

Percentage that cover mobile device security: 38

Percentage of companies that provide no incentives to employees for being proactive in protecting sensitive information or reporting potential issues: 67

Among those that do provide incentives, percentage that provide a financial reward: 19

Source: Experian.

Percentage of Americans who expect advertising to be entertaining, according YouGov research: 70

Rank of "I am stuck on Band-Aid brand 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me" on the list of corporate jingles people like most: 1

Rank of "The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup": 2

Rank of "What would you do for a Klondike bar?" on the list: 3

Source: YouGov.

Percentage of younger consumers ages 18 to 34 who say that they are optimistic about the economy, compared to only 37 percent of those age 50 or older, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores: 60

Source: National Association of Convenience Stores.

Ranks of Windows app and Windows OS problems, viruses/spyware/malware/pop-ups, and printer trouble on the list of technology issues that most trouble consumers and businesses, according to RESCUECOM: 1, 2, 3

Source: RESCUECOM.

Percentage of drinking-age Americans planning to imbibe this summer who say "refreshing" is what they're most likely to look for in an alcoholic beverage this summer, according to results of a Harris Poll: 65

Ranks of fruity, crisp, sweet and citrusy on the list of preferences summer drinkers are also looking for: 1, 2, 3, 4

Percentage of regular drinkers who are more likely to "day drink" in the summer than any other season: 58

Percentage who like drinking outside this time of year: 80

Source: The Harris Poll.

Percentage of adults who think they need additional credit, according to the Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S Households in 2015, prepared by the Consumer and Community Development Research Section of the Federal Reserve Board: 46

Percentage of adults wanting more credit who say they have difficulty accessing additional credit: 40

Percentage of adults with a credit card who regularly carry a balance on that card: 57

Source: Federal Reserve Board.

Idle Thought

"The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny." -- Wole Soyinka, playwright, Nobel laureate

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

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