oddities

Figuratively Speaking for February 07, 2020

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | February 7th, 2020

Percentage of C-suite executives who say that their corporate culture is one of the top reasons people join their company, according to a survey by Eagle Hill Consulting: 100

Percentage who cited improving corporate culture as a top strategic priority: 59

Percentage of respondents who agree that they hold their employees accountable for company culture once they come on board: 48

Source: Eagle Hill Consulting.

Percentage of HR managers who say that the Monday after the Super Bowl should be a holiday, according to research by OfficeTeam: 72

Percentage of employees who have discussed a major sporting event with co-workers the day after: 55

Rank of major sporting events on the list of the hottest topics that men discuss at work: 1

Percentage of employees who have taken a planned day off from work following a major sporting event: 20

Source: OfficeTeam.

Percentage of people who have "ghosted" somebody -- or stopped all communication without explanation -- who state that they would do it again, according to a survey by dating.com: 78

Percentage who admit to dropping communication after a first date because they didn't feel a connection: 45

Percentage of ghosters who report that a date looking different than in their online dating profile photos is the main cause of their disappearance: 15

Source: Dating.com Group.

Percentage of moms who say they get a better workout running after their kids than in a spin class, according to a Truvia sweetener survey: 60

Percentage who say that household chores count as cardio: 80

Source: Truvia.

Percentage of U.S. adults who do not expect their personal financial situation to improve in 2020 (this figure includes 41% who expect their finances to stay the same this year and 16% who say their finances will be worse), according to a study from Bankrate.com: 57

Percentage of those who expect their financial situation to improve who say it will be due to making more money at work: 49

Percentage who say they expect to have less debt in 2020: 42

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of Americans who say that it is likely they will live longer than their parents, according to a poll from the Longevity Project and Morning Consult, developed in collaboration with the Stanford Center on Longevity: 63

Ranks of "having more time with their family" and "having new experiences" on the list of positive impacts of living longer: 1, 2

Source: Longevity Project.

Percentage of Americans who said they were spending 30% or less of their monthly income on housing, according to a survey based on questions prepared by Varo Money: 30

Percentage of respondents who stated that their overall expenses have increased in the past 12 months: 78

Ranks of utilities and food on the list of the largest nonhousing expenditures: 1, 2

Source: Varo Money.

Estimated percentage of women married in recent years who have kept their names, according to a Google consumer survey conducted by The Upshot: 20

Percentage who have chosen hyphenating their name or legally changing it while continuing to use their birth name professionally: 10

By comparison, percentage of women who married for the first time in the 1970s who kept their names: 17

Source: Google.

Percentage of Americans who say that the health care system treats physical and mental health as equally important, according to a survey from Ipsos Public Affairs: 23

Percentage who believe that seeing a mental health professional is a sign of strength: 71

Percentage who say people should adopt a more tolerant attitude toward people with mental illness: 69

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of U.S. broadband households who own a home security system, according to Parks Associates: 33

Percentage who own a smart home control system, an increase of 38% since 2018: 18

Percentage who own at least one smart speaker or display, an increase of 10% since 2018: 41

Source: Parks Associates.

Idle Thought

"Getting money is not all a man's business; to cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life." -- Samuel Johnson, "The Life of Samuel Johnson"

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

oddities

Figuratively Speaking for January 31, 2020

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | January 31st, 2020

Including mortgages, credit cards and student loans, amount of debt owed by Americans, according to the New York Federal Reserve: $14 trillion

According to a recent survey conducted by Nationwide, percentage of Americans who are stressed thinking about their debt: 44

Percentage of respondents who said they feel a sense of relief and accomplishment when they pay off their debt: 54

Source: Nationwide.

Percentage of consumers who eat at fast-food restaurants once per month, according to RetailMeNot data: 86

Percentage who visit "fast casual" establishments: 67

Average cost per month of eating outside the home: $281

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

According to an ongoing Gallup Poll, percentage of Americans (totalling 45 million people) who stated they were utilizing CBD products and fewer opiates to aid with discomfort: 14

Source: Gallup Organization.

Ranks of Iceland, Norway and Finland on the list of countries where gender inequality -- the gap between men and women in terms of health, education, work and politics -- is the narrowest, according to the World Economic Forum: 1, 2, 3

Rank of the U.K.: 21

Rank of the U.S.: 53

Ranks of Pakistan, Iraq and Yemen (the bottom three): 151, 152, 153

Projected number of years it will take gender inequality to disappear altogether, according to the Forum: 99

Source: World Economic Forum.

Ranks of "lack of progression" and "low pay" on the list of reasons people quit their jobs, according to research by CareerAddict: 1, 2

Percentage who said they didn't regret leaving their jobs: 87

Percentage who also revealed they would consider returning if they were offered a better salary or a higher position: 35

Percentage of respondents who said their boss takes credit for their work: 50

Source: CareerAddict.

Percentage of Americans who say the media are important to American democracy, with over half saying they are very important, according to a survey conducted by Regina Corso Consulting: 85

Source: Regina Corso Consulting.

Percentage of professionals who said their company provides the option to work off-site, according to Robert Half: 47

Of those, percentage who take advantage of the perk and work from home: 70

Percentage who do their job from another location, such as a cafe or shared office space: 6

Source: Robert Half.

Percentage of workers who find digital administration boring and a poor use of their skills, according to research conducted by OnePoll: 48

Percentage who say it gets in the way of doing their main job: 51

Percentage who report that it reduces their overall productivity: 64

Ranks of general data entry, managing email traffic and filing digital documents -- such as documents, spreadsheets, images or PDFs -- into the correct digital folder on the list of the most-hated office tasks: 1, 2, 3

Source: OnePoll.

Ranks of dining out and travel/experiences on the list of categories that consumers are most likely to splurge on, as determined by 5W Public Relations in its 2020 consumer culture report: 1, 2

Source: 5W Public Relations.

Percentage of U.S. adults who have enough savings to cover a $1,000 emergency room visit or car repair, according to a report by Bankrate.com: 41

Percentage of adults (or their close family) who have experienced an unexpected expense in the past year: 28

Average cost of one: $3,518

Source: Bankrate.com.

Idle Thought

"Even the most beautiful scenery is no longer assured of our love after we have lived in it for three months, and some distant coast attracts our avarice: Possessions are generally diminished by possession." -- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

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

oddities

Figuratively Speaking for January 24, 2020

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | January 24th, 2020

Average amount that Americans in the country's 22 largest metropolitan areas spend annually on food at home, according to a CreditCards.com analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data: $4,464

Amount spent by Seattle residents to top the list: $6,195

Average amount spent on food away from home: $3,459

Amount spent in Washington, D.C.: $5,629

Average amount spent on gas: $2,109

Amount spent in Los Angeles at No. 1: $2,706

Average amount spent on public/other transportation: $818

Amount spent in Washington, D.C.: $2,099

Source: CreditCards.com.

Percentage of Super Bowl tickets that go to the AFC champion, according to Tickpick: 17.5

Percentage that go to the NFC champion: 17.5

Percentage that go to the host team: 5

Percentage that is distributed among the remaining 29 teams (1.2% per team): 34.8

Percentage of remaining Super Bowl tickets controlled by the NFL and sold to various partners, sponsors, media and networks: 25.2

Source: Tickpick.

Percentage of companies in the U.S. that offer any child-care benefits, according to a survey by Clutch: 6

Average annual cost of daycare for one infant or toddler (a cost that varies widely based on a family's location): $11,666

Source: Clutch.

Percentage of technology leaders who said their company offers IT staff more than the norm when it comes to things like remote work opportunities and sign-on bonuses, according to research from Robert Half Technology: 75

Ranks of Miami, Seattle and Raleigh, North Carolina, on the list of the 28 U.S. cities in the survey that have the most organizations that are sweetening the pot for hard-to-find IT talent: 1, 2, 3

Percentage of IT managers who said the main reason for the extras is to gain a recruiting edge over competitors: 60

Source: Robert Half Technology.

Percentage of parents in the U.S. who gave their children a regular allowance last year, according to a study by RoosterMoney: 69

Average weekly allowance (nearly $499 a year, up 6% from 2018): $9.59

Average percentage of their money that kids saved: 42

Average amount of their income that adults saved, according to the latest statistics: 7.8

Ranks of Legos, cellphones and Nintendo Switch on the list of the top items kids save for: 1, 2, 3

Source: RoosterMoney.

Percentage of Americans who say they feel in control over their current financial situation, according to a financial services firm Edward Jones survey: 81

Percentage of respondents who reported that they feel happy when thinking about saving money: 21

If given $1,000, percentage of respondents who said they would allocate it to short-term goals (those that can be accomplished in less than five years): 72

Percentage who also reported that retirement was a top savings priority: 26

Source: Edward Jones.

Percentage of all nonretired adults who have no retirement savings or pension, according to a report from WalletHub: 26

Ranks of Florida, Colorado, New Hampshire, Utah and Wyoming on the list of the best states in which to retire -- established by data ranging from adjusted cost of living to weather to quality of public hospitals: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of Kentucky, New Mexico, Rhode Island, New Jersey and West Virginia on the list of the worst states in which to retire: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: WalletHub.

Across a range of categories -- from economic influence and military might to education and quality of life -- ranks of Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Germany, Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. on the list of the best countries, according to an analysis project by U.S. News and World Report, BAV Group and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Ranks of United States, Russia and China on the list of the most powerful countries: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of Canada, Denmark and Sweden on the list of the best countries for quality of life: 1, 2, 3

Source: U.S. News and World Report.

Projected worldwide value of pirate video services accessed by pay-TV and nonpay-TV consumers by 2023, according to a Parks Associates report: $67 billion plus

If just 10% of pay-TV subscribers discontinued pay-TV services in favor of video delivered by pirates, probable loss to those operators by 2023: $6 billion

Source: Parks Associates.

Percentage of Americans who reported feeling guilty about wasting energy in their homes, according to a Vivint Solar Report: 70

Percentage in the oldest group of people (55 and older) who felt guilty about wasting energy, compared to 77% of respondents in the youngest group (ages 18 to 24): 55

Percentage who said that they changed their habits to be more "green" when others were around: 49

Source: Vivint Solar.

Idle Thought

"He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have." -- Socrates

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

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