Percentage of employees who say their employer tracks them with employee monitoring software, according to new data from Clutch: 21

Percentage of employees in the U.S. who say their company doesn't use employee monitoring software: 49

Percentage of employees who believe they would trust their employer more if they used the software: 10

Percentage who believe employee monitoring software would reduce trust: 37

Source: Clutch.

Percentage of parents with school-age children who say remote learning due to the COVID-19 outbreak during the 2020-21 school year would negatively impact their finances, according to a survey by Bankrate.com: 61

Overall, percentage of parents who would incur additional miscellaneous expenses (technology, tutoring, meals, etc.): 30

Percentage who believe their career opportunities would be limited by balancing work and child care: 22

Percentage who would have to cut back on their work hours: 23

Percentage who would have to pay for additional child care: 16

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of the U.S. population who are aware of the importance of sun protection and state they use sun protection during sun exposure, according to a survey on sunscreen habits by ISIDIN: 50.3

Percentage who use sunscreen on a daily basis: 37

Percentage of skin aging that is caused by accumulative sun damage: 80

Source: ISIDIN.

Percentage of owners of small- to medium-sized businesses who report customer numbers are back up to what they experienced before the virus -- an 8% jump over last month, according to an Alignable survey: 32

Percentage who report they are at or above pre-COVID levels: 26

Percentage who say they're operating with only half (or less) of their January 2020 revenues: 47

Source: Alignable.

Percentage of concert and festival fans who are opting to keep tickets for rescheduled live shows, according to financial results released by Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.: 86

Number of tickets sold to more than 4,000 concerts and festivals scheduled for 2021: 19 million

Source: Live Nation Entertainment.

Percentage of shoppers who plan to stock up if another shutdown occurs, according to a COVID-19 grocery shopper research report from Acosta: 53

Percentage of shoppers who stocked up at the start of the pandemic and plan to stock up again in the event of another shutdown: 38

Source: Acosta.

Percentage of people in the U.S. who have participated in remote training, according to a new survey report from Clutch: 57

Percentage of people who participated in remote training who say it was ineffective: 27

Percentage of employees who say that remote training is either somewhat or very effective: 61

Source: Clutch.

Ranks of laptop, speakers/headphones and electronic accessories on the list of items that parents and students expect to have to buy should online education be the educational scenario this fall, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation: 1, 2, 3,

Percentage of K-12 families who expect to buy computers and other electronics this year, up from 54% last year: 63

Source: NRF.

Percentage increase in fall and Labor Day bookings for RVs, according to an RVshare survey: 50

Percentage who plan to travel in the next three months and hope to do so for seven to 10 days: 69

Percentage who report that they will not fly anytime soon, and will continue to choose road tripping: 63

Source: RVshare.

Idle Thought

"Work saves us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need. " -- Voltaire, philosopher

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

Ranks of visible tattoos, casual attire and non-traditional hair colors on the list of behaviors that are more acceptable today than they were in the past, according to research by Accountemps: 1, 2 (tie)

Percentage of senior managers who cited loosening societal standards as the top reason for the shift: 59

Percentage who said another reason was companies catering to younger professionals: 51

Source: Accountemps.

Percentage of parents who now support using virtual learning for smaller-scale school disruptions, such as snow days, according to the results of research by Pearson and Connections Academy: 83

Percentage of parents who say that the disruption of school has added to overall feelings of stress and anxiety among young people: 89

Source: Pearson.

Percentage of people who are planning to tap their 401(k) today (41% for those laid off due to COVID-19), according to the SimplyWise survey: 24

Percentage who now plan to work in retirement: 72

Source: SimplyWise.

Percentage of women who said they'd be unlikely to consider dating a man with shirtless images displayed in their profile for a committed relationship, according to a survey by dating.com: 76

Percentage of male dating profiles that contain at least one shirtless picture: 60

Percentage of female dating profiles that contain at least one bikini/bathing suit picture: 20

Percentage increase in overall match rates that this same group of women had compared to their covered-up counterparts: 40

Source: Dating.com Group.

Percentage of students who said they have lost a job due to COVID-19 needed to help pay for college, according to a student survey conducted by Scholarship America: 30

Percentage who said a parent has lost a job: 28

Percentage who said they are not planning on enrolling in the fall because of COVID-19: 4

Source: Scholarship America.

Percentage of Americans who view "taking the first generation COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it's available" as a moderate or large risk, according to the Axios-Ipsos Index: 61

Percentage who view participating in COVID-19 vaccine trials as very risky: 69

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of parents who know their school's plans for the fall who report that their children will be in some level of remote education when school resumes, according to a survey conducted by Discount School Supply: 71

As schools continue to adjust their plans, percentage of families who are still unsure of their family's fall strategy: 25

Source: Discount School Supply.

Among the 16% of U.S. adults who think their finances will be worse this year, percentage who blamed the work done by political leaders in Washington, D.C., according to a survey by Bankrate: 44

Percentage of Americans who claim to have had at least one financial goal going into 2020: 83

Rank of "paying down debt" as the most popular goal: 1

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of Americans who said they do not feel like they are saving enough to cover unexpected expenses that may come up in the future, according to a survey based on questions prepared by Varo Money: 90

Source: Varo Money.

Amid the ongoing uncertainty, percentage of shoppers who expect K-12 and college students will take at least some of their classes at home this fall, according to a survey by National Retail Federation: 55

Percentage who expect most or all classes will be taught in-person: 26

Of those expecting students to be at home, percentage who believe they will need to buy items like computers, home furnishings or other supplies to accommodate learning: 72

Source: NRF.

Idle Thought

"The truth isn't always beauty, but the hunger for it is." -- Nadine Gordimer, novelist, Nobel laureate

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

Ranks of heavy workloads, long work hours and tight deadlines on the list of the most-stressful aspects of running a small business, according to The UPS Store's annual small-business survey: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of just working through it, prioritizing tasks/responsibilities and analyzing the situation for a solution/plan of action on the list of approaches used to combat these stressors: 1, 2, 3

Percentage of small-business owners who say they have recently changed or pivoted their business: 41

Percentage who are doing more business online: 65

Source: The UPS Store.

If a coronavirus vaccine arrives this year -- which would make it the fastest-ever vaccine approval by a huge margin -- percentage of Americans who think taking a first-generation vaccine as soon as it's available is risky, according to the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index: 60

Percentage who have established a "bubble" of people outside their home who only interact with each other, as an attempt to create a small sense of normalcy in social life: 47

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of small-business decision-makers who say they or their business owners have dipped into their personal funds to keep their businesses afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a CreditCards.com report: 35

Percentage who say they or the owners used a personal credit card: 24

Percentage who say they or the owners have tapped into a personal savings account since March: 21

Source: CreditCards.com.

Though skills learned through chores are among the most important lessons parents hope to instill in their children, percentage of parents who say their children regularly do chores -- down from 79% in 1997 -- according to a survey by the Whirlpool Corp.: 70

Percentage who say that it's not important to them that their children do chores: 15

Source: Whirlpool.

Percentage decline in grocery shopping once a week or more (from 67% of shoppers to 47% of shoppers) since the pandemic began, according to a research report from Acosta: 30

When looking at total household spending, percentage of shoppers who are spending more on groceries than they were pre-COVID: 50

Of shoppers spending more on groceries, percentage who cited eating at home more as their reason: 59

Source: Acosta.

Average amount per family that parents with children in elementary school through high school say they plan to spend on back-to-school shopping (topping the previous record of $696.70 they said they would spend last year), according to a survey by the National Retail Federation: $789.49

Average amount that college students and their families expect to spend per family: $1,059.20

Source: NRF.

This time last year, percentage of U.S. adults who said they typically made purchases under $10 with cash, according to a CreditCards.com survey: 49

Percentage rise in credit card usage at grocery stores between December 2019 and April 2020, according to a Bankrate.com survey: 70

Percentage rise in Visa U.S. contactless payments from March 2019 to March 2020: 150

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of "cord cutters" who say live TV is not important to them, according to E-Poll Market research: 52

Of those who still have traditional pay-TV, percentage who say having access to live TV is "very important": 49

Monthly cost of YouTube TV (up from $15): $65

Source: E-Poll Market Research.

Percentage of college students who said paying for school is one of their top concerns, according to a student survey conducted by Scholarship America: 64

Percentage who listed contracting the coronavirus as a top concern: 42

Percentage who said the pandemic has reduced their ability to earn income needed for their education: 77

Percentage of respondents who said the pandemic has increased their need for financial aid: 64

Source: Scholarship America.

Percentage of Americans who would be at least somewhat uncomfortable with flying in the next month, limiting summer travel possibilities, according to a survey from The Manifest: 67

Despite concerns about air travel as daily new cases have surged, percentage of people who have fully canceled their 2020 travel plans: 23

Percentage who are stopping additional travel planning: 32

Percentage who are continuing to plan: 15

Source: The Manifest.

Idle Thought

"Do not believe that it is very much of an advance to do the unnecessary three times as fast." -- Peter Drucker, management consultant, professor and writer

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