Percentage of parents who report that their children typically go to mom first with money questions, according to a survey by T. Rowe Price: 61

Percentage of moms who grade themselves with an "A" on their financial knowledge: 17

Percentage of dads who grade themselves with an "A": 28

Source: T. Rowe Price.

Projected wealth among millionaire households in 25 of the world's major economies in 2020 (from an estimated $92 trillion this year), according to a report from the Deloitte Center for Financial Services: $202 trillion

Ranks of China, Brazil and Russia on the list of countries expected to be the driving forces in the growth of millionaire wealth: 1, 2, 3

Rank of Switzerland on the list of countries having the highest per capita wealth among millionaires ($4.2 million in 2011): 1

In 2020, predicted percentage of the world's wealth held by millionaire households in the U.S.: 43

Source: Deloitte LLP.

Ranks of Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Charlie Sheen, Gary Busey, Lindsay Lohan and The Situation on the list of the "least desired" celebrity travel companions, according to an Expedia.com poll: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of Ellen Degeneres (earning twice as many votes as the second-place candidate), Oprah Winfrey and Rachael Ray on the list of favorite daytime-talk-show-host travel companions: 1, 2, 3

Source: Expedia.

Year that the word "locavore" -- or one who eats food grown locally whenever possible -- was chosen by the New Oxford American Dictionary as the word of the year, according to Mintel: 2007

Percentage growth in the "local" claim on U.S. restaurant menus in the past year alone: 13

Source: Mintel.

Ranks of Norway, Australia, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark on the list of countries where it's best to be a mother, according to Save the Children's 2011 State of the World's Mothers report, which ranks 164 countries on women's access to health care, education and opportunities: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Rank of the United States on the list: 31

United States' rate for maternal mortality -- the highest of any industrialized nation: 1 in 2,100

Source: Save the Children.

Percentage of American singles who say that if a first date isn't going as planned, they would actually call it a night and leave within the first 30 minutes of the date, according to Match.com: 12

If your date isn't getting the hint that you aren't a match made in heaven, percentage who agree you should politely explain you aren't interested: 52

Percentage of singles who disapprove of ending the date between the sheets: 80

Source: Match.com.

Ranks of Cape Town, South Africa; Sydney, Australia; and Machu Picchu, Peru, on the list of travelers' choice destinations, according to a survey by TripAdvisor travelers: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of New York City, Honolulu and San Francisco on the list of top choices in the U.S.: 1, 2, 3

Source: TripAdvisor.

In 2010, number of stranded motorists who were helped by the AAA during the summer driving season, with nearly half a million receiving assistance during the Memorial Day holiday weekend alone, according to the American Automobile Association: 9.3 million

Number of driving miles logged by Americans in 2010, the most vehicle miles traveled since 2007, according to Consumer Reports: 3 trillion

Source: AutoMD.com.

Year of the Battle of Puebla (when outnumbered Mexican troops defeated the invading French forces of Napoleon III), according to Chase's Calendar of Events and the U.S. Census Bureau: 1862

Date this victory is celebrated annually -- the celebration evolving from one of military victory to a colorful and vibrant event celebrating Mexican culture: May 5 (Cinco de Mayo)

Number of people of Mexican descent in the U.S. -- 10 percent of the total population: 31.7 million

Number of these who live in either California or Texas: 19.6 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Estimated percentage of IT professionals of Indian origin who are planning to return to their homeland, according to a survey conducted by Corp-Corp.com: 50

Percentage of Indians with permanent residency or citizenship elsewhere who intend to return: 57

Percentage of respondents who said their primary reason for the return to India is to rejoin their family members: 51

Source: Corp-Corp.com.

Idle Thought

"Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him." -- Aldous Huxley, novelist

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

Estimated number of gallons of water the average person would save with each shower by pledging to take the Earth Lovers Three-Minute Shower Challenge, according to the Michigan State Government Water Conservation website: 50

Roughly, number of gallons of water per minute that a typical showerhead uses: 7

Percentage of consumers who believe that they could get clean in a three-minute shower: 53

Source: The Body Shop International.

Estimated number of cigarettes that are smoked in the United States on an annual basis, according to Legacy, the national public health foundation: 360 billion

According to environmental cleanup reports, number of cigarettes or cigarette filters/butts that were picked up last year in the United States alone: 1 million

Rank of cigarette butts on the list of most littered items in the U.S.: 1

Source: Legacy.

Year Anna Jarvis, the driving force behind Mother's Day, organized observances in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia, according to the Census Bureau: 1908

Number of stay-at-home moms in the U.S. in 2009, down from 5.3 million in 2008: 5.1 million

Percentage of married-couple family groups with children under 15 that had a stay-at-home mother in 2009, down from 23.7 percent in 2008: 22.6

Rank of Mother's Day on the list of the largest card-sending holidays in the United States, with 141 million cards exchanged annually, according to Hallmark: 3

Source: Census Bureau.

Percentage of employees who admitted to coming to work somewhat frequently when feeling under the weather, according to an Accountemps survey: 76

Percentage of workers who said that when a colleague comes in sick, they worry most about being exposed to his or her illness: 34

Percentage who are impressed by their coworker's dedication: 8

Source: Accountemps.

Percentage of global citizens who definitely believe in a "divine entity," according to a poll conducted by Ipsos for Reuters News: 51

Percentage who believe they will just "cease to exist": 23

Percentage who simply "don't know" about a hereafter: 26

Source: Institute Ipsos MORI.

Percentage of Americans who want to read books selected by popular daytime talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, according to a survey by Sony: 25

Ranks of Bill Gates (18 percent), Warren Buffett (13 percent), Michelle Obama (12 percent), star athlete Tom Brady (8 percent), Matt Lauer (6 percent) and Oprah Winfrey (1 percent) on the list of other in-demand sources for book recommendations: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Source: Sony Pictures Television International.

Percentage growth in the U.S. organic food industry in 2010, while total U.S. food sales grew by less than 1 percent, according to findings from the 2011 Organic Industry Survey: 7.7

Value of the organic industry in 2010: $28.6 billion

Percentage of organic companies that reported positive full-time employment growth: 40

Source: Organic Trade Association.

Percentage of Americans who will find out from mom what she wants before shopping for a Mother's Day gift, according to a survey conducted by Toluna and released by Buy.com: 35

Ranks of a day at the spa (23 percent), gift cards (20 percent) and "something homemade" (17 percent) on the list of moms' top gifts: 1, 2, 3

For moms over age 55, ranks of gift cards (38 percent) and a new computer (25 percent) on the list of the most desired presents: 1, 2

Source: Buy.com.

Approximate number of tires that are consumed as fuel every year, according to Liberty Tire Recycling: 10 million

Percentage more energy than coal (while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 19.5 percent) that is provided by tire-derived fuel: 25

Potentially, the number of barrels of crude oil that would equal the energy produced by all of the scrap tires produced in the U.S.: 13 million

Source: Liberty Tire Recycling.

Percentage decrease in directory paper demand over 2009, due in part to things like upgraded consumer websites, residential white pages, consumer choice programs, smaller book sizes and more efficient pagination systems, according to the Local Search Association: 8.1

Total percentage decrease in paper demand since 2007: 35

Percentage of the solid waste stream represented by telephone directories, significantly less than office paper (2.2 percent): 0.3

Source: Local Search Association.

Idle Thought

"There are many people who reach their conclusions about life like schoolboys; they cheat their master by copying the answer out of a book without having worked out the sum for themselves." -- Soren Kierkegaard, philosopher

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

Percentage of hiring managers who say a lack of a cover letter will likely result in them not considering a candidate for their open position, according to data released by CareerBuilder: 33

Once they have read a candidate's cover letter, percentage of hiring managers who say they prefer to see a career summary at the top of a resume instead of an objective: 70

Percentage who think a resume should be two pages long: 57

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of U.S. singles who say they plan to watch the royal wedding on TV, according to the Zoosk Royal Wedding survey: 40

Percentage of British singles who plan to watch: 31

Percentage of U.S. singles who would rather have a root canal than watch the royal wedding: 39

Percentage who say family gatherings with the royal in-laws would be a snooze-fest: 66

Source: Zoosk.

Year that a landmark in the development of the way we use language (Noah Webster's "American Dictionary of the English Language") was published with the goal of simplifying spelling from British practice and including everyday words used by Americans, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1828

Of the 70,000 words contained in Webster's first dictionary, number that had never been included in previous dictionaries, including words such as "skunk" and "squash": 12,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Equivalent number of miles per gallon that the Nissan Leaf, the first all-electric car for the masses, will deliver, according to the Environmental Protection Agency: 99

Number of miles delivered per charge: 73

Source: Kelley Blue Book.

Cost to consumers who financed a car through a dealership in 2009 in extra interest over the lives of their loans because of dealer interest rate markups, according to the report by the Center for Responsible Lending: $25.8 billion

Percentage increase in the odds that a subprime borrower will default: 12

Percentage increase in the odds that a borrower will end up having the car repossessed: 33

Source: Center for Responsible Learning.

Despite concerns about the impact of rising health care costs on their businesses and employees, percentage of employers who say they favor a federally tax-funded universal health care system, according to the 2011 United Benefit Advisors survey: 16.3

Percentage of top corporate decision makers who are concerned with the impact that health care costs are having or are going to have on their overall corporate costs: 99.4

Percentage of employers who still believe a good benefits program helps attract good employees: 96.9

Source: United Benefit Advisors.

Percentage of American adults who believe in redistributing wealth by heavy taxes on the rich, according to a Gallup Poll: 47

Percentage who disagree: 49

Source: Gallup.

Estimated number of Americans who live in food insecure households, including 17 million children, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture: 50 million, or 1 in 6

Estimated number of eggs that America's egg farmers donated this Easter season to food banks across the country: 11 million

Source: United Egg Producers.

Percentage of U.S. consumers who are receiving a tax refund who say they will use at least part of that money for leisure travel this year, according to Travel Leaders' nationwide consumer survey: 57.4

Ranks of Australia, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand and a Mediterranean cruise on the list Americans' "ultimate dream international destination": 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Travel Leaders.

Percentage of brides who turn to their families for advice to get started in planning their wedding, according to Get Married: 64

Percentage of brides who said that having all your friends and family in attendance trumps everything when it comes to planning the perfect day: 86

Source: Getmarried.com.

Idle Thought

"Being truthful, as I discovered long ago as a journalist, is much more difficult than being accurate." -- Sandra Gwyn, journalist and author

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