oddities

Figuratively Speaking for September 22, 2017

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | September 22nd, 2017

Percentage of Americans who said that debt is the No. 1 cause of financial stress, according to a survey by GOBankingRates.com: 23

Ranks of everyday costs, health care, taxes, housing and education on the list of causes of financial stress: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Rank of California on the list of states with the highest debt balance per person of any state, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York: 1

Source: GoBankingRates.com.

Percentage of HR managers who report having caught a lie on a resume, according to a CareerBuilder survey: 75

Among human resource managers, typically the gatekeepers for the actual hiring managers, percentage who said they spend less than a minute initially looking at a resume: 39

Percentage who said they spend less than 30 seconds: 19

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Average combined amount that parents spend to feed a teenager from age 13 to 19, according to a national survey, conducted by Farm Rich: $51,790

Percentage of parents who say their teen is a "bottomless pit": 33

Source: Farm Rich.

Percentage of U.S. college seniors who want to work abroad, despite perceived global volatility, according to a survey by Cite Research for Graebel Companies Inc.: 81

Ranks of "experiencing new cultures," "personal growth" and "the chance to travel" on the list of reasons for working abroad: 1, 2, 3

Source: Graebel Companies Inc.

Percentage of Americans who agree that breakfast is the most important meal of the day: 74

Despite morning being the most hectic part of the day -- between getting kids dressed and fed before starting their own day -- percentage of parents who agree that breakfast is a meal made at home: 54

Percentage more that households with children ages 6 to 12 spend on kids cereal annually than other U.S. households: 45

Source: Nielsen Insights.

Among working Americans, percentage who didn't use all the vacation time available to them, according to the results of a survey by Wakefield Research for Princess Cruises: 31

Source: Princess Cruises.

Percentage of Americans who think they should check their credit reports more than once per year, according to a WalletHub survey: 84

Percentage who actually do so: 41

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of millennial drivers who say they would rather go without social media for a week than face the prospect of losing access to a vehicle for an extended time, according to research released from Enterprise: 50

Percentage who would rather skip one meal a day: 39

Percentage who would rather lose an extra hour of sleep each day: 41

Source: Enterprise.

Percentage of professionals who feel at least somewhat confident in the ability of senior management to grow the business, provide sound financial stewardship and drive innovation, according to a Robert Half Management Resources survey: 81

Percentage who believe their organization's executives support staff members' growth: 78

Percentage who believe they can manage change effectively: 79

Source: Robert Half Management Resources.

Percentage of Gen Z respondents (ages 13 to 19) who believe they can have an impact on social and environmental issues by using social media, according to the Cone Gen Z CSR study "How to Speak Z": 81

Percentage who use social media to talk about issues they care about: 82

Percentage who are likely to share their positive opinion of companies addressing social and environmental issues: 87

Source: Cone Communications.

Idle Thought

"Too many parents make life hard for their children by trying, too zealously, to make it easy for them." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, philosopher

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

oddities

Figuratively Speaking for September 15, 2017

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | September 15th, 2017

Percentage of executives who strongly agreed that recent college graduates have the needed skills to succeed as they enter their first professional job, according to a survey by Korn/Ferry: 5

Compared to college graduates 10 years ago, percentage of respondents who felt today's graduates are more motivated to succeed on the job: 34

Percentage who said today's college graduates are less motivated to succeed: 42

Percentage of professionals who said they look for drive/passion when hiring a new college graduate: 61

Percentage who said grades: 1

Source: Korn/Ferry International.

Percentage of women who are likely to let the other person pay for a date, versus 2 percent of men, according to a survey by Bankrate: 46

Percentage of women who are more likely to split the bill, versus 9 percent of men: 37

Source: Bankrate Inc.

Percentage of Americans who believe the condition of a workplace restroom is one indicator of how a company values its workforce, according to a survey by the Bradley Corp.: 89

Percentage of workers who rank their restrooms as "excellent" or "very good": 67

Source: Bradley Corp.

Percentage of Americans ages 18 to 39 who indicated they believe it's "normal to be depressed when you are old," according to a survey by AARP: 47

Percentage of respondents ages 60 and up who believe old age is a "depressing stage of life": 10

Percentage of respondents ages 60 and up who reported they are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their life, versus 61 percent of people ages 18 to 39 and 60 percent of those ages 40 to 59: 67

Source: AARP.

Average amount of time Americans spend per week cleaning their house without help, according to a survey on behalf of Alfred Karcher GmbH & Co.: 3.3 hours

Percentage of Americans who would spend more time cleaning their house for visiting friends than for their parents: 34

Percentage who would clean their house before a date arrives: 9

Source: Alfred Karcher GmbH & Co.

If money were not a concern, ranks of Hawaii, Florida, California, Alaska and Colorado on the list of the most popular domestic holiday destinations, according to a survey from TheCashlorette.com: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Internationally, ranks of Italy, Australia, France, the United Kingdom and Ireland on the list: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: TheCashlorette.com.

Number of minutes per day employees ages 18 to 34 rack up on mobile devices, according to an OfficeTeam survey: 70

Amount of time they spend on personal tasks each work day, the most of all age groups: 48 minutes

Source: OfficeTeam.

Amount now loaded to prepaid credit cards each year, according to WalletHub: $300 billion

Annual amount it can cost the consumer if they chose the wrong option on a prepaid card: $311

Percentage less-expensive that prepaid cards from large banks can be than their small-bank counterparts: 82

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of small-business owners who are optimistic about their future, according to a survey by Reliant Funding: 63

Percentage who said their business is good and steadily growing: 76

Source: Reliant Funding.

Percentage of Americans who said that the main reason they buy organic "is to avoid pesticides," according to research for Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc.: 90

Percentage of people in the United States who have detectable levels of pesticide breakdown products in their urine: 94

Percentage who said they buy organic to avoid genetically modified organisms (GMOs): 70

Percentage who choose organic produce because they believe it is a more nutritious option to feed their families: 40

Source: Natural Grocers.

Idle Thought

"No one worth possessing, can be quite possessed." -- Sara Teasdale, poet

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

oddities

Figuratively Speaking for September 08, 2017

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | September 8th, 2017

Percentage of U.S. workers who feel they have just a job, not a career, according to a CareerBuilder survey: 55

Percentage of these workers who are likely to change jobs in the second half of 2017: 38

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Amount of Americans' outstanding credit card debt, a new record, according to the Federal Reserve: $1.0217 trillion

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of millennial women who said they feel the need to downplay the time and effort they put into their look, according to a survey of millennial women by TRESemme: 70

Percentage of women who feel there is a stereotype about women who spend time on their appearance: 68

Source: TRESemme.

Percentage of Americans who say they have signed up for a subscription or membership, such as a gym, that enrolled them in an automatic payment plan without even realizing it, according to a study by CreditCards.com: 35

When respondents found themselves in this situation, percentage who kept the autopay turned on: 11

Percentage who found it easy to cancel an automatic payment: 47

Source: Creditcards.com.

Percentage increase in healthy food consumption when families share home-cooked dinners, according to research by the FMI Foundation: 24

Average number of times per week that parents eat home-cooked dinners with their child or spouse: 3.5

Rank of "differing schedules" on the list of obstacles for missed family meals: 1

Source: FMI Foundation.

Percentage less interest charged for the average new car loan than the average used car loan this year, according to Wallet Hub: 16

Compared with buyers who have excellent credit, amount more that those with fair credit will spend in interest (about five times more), over the life of a five-year, $20,000 loan when financing a vehicle: $6,282

Ranks of car manufacturers (rates 44 percent below average) credit unions (21 percent below average) as the best options for financing a new car: 1,2

Ranks of regional banks (25 percent above average) and national banks (10 percent above average) on the list of the less favorable options for financing a new car: 1, 2

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of teens who anticipate working a part-time job while attending college, while only 49 percent of college students or recent graduates actually had one while in college, according to a survey by Ameritrade: 58

Percentage of teens who expect to help pay for college with scholarships or grants: 49

Percentage of teens who say they will take or have taken part in a work-study program: 59

Source: TD Ameritrade.

When Americans were asked to list the world's top cities, ranks of New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., London, Sydney and Rome: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Source: Ipsos Global Public Affairs.

Percentage of tutors aged 50-plus who cited a desire to share their accumulated knowledge as their No. 1 motivation, according to a survey by Wyzant: 73

Percentage who said they tutored for the money: 59

Source: Wyzant.

When asked if they had auto, health or home insurance, percentage of Americans who say they have at least two of these, according to a survey by Harris Poll on behalf of OneAmerica: 80

Source: The Harris Poll.

Idle thought

"What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give." -- P.D. James, novelist

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

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