Figuratively Speaking

Of the 56 million elementary and high school students enrolled this fall, percentage who will attend private schools, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 11

Estimated number of private schools across the nation: 34,000

Estimated number of public schools: 99,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of working adults who are willing to give up some percentage of their salary for more flexibility at work, according to findings from a survey conducted on behalf of Mom Corps: 45

Average percentage of their salary that working adults are willing to relinquish -- significantly higher than the amount noted in last year's survey (5.8 percent): 8.6

Source: Mom Corps.

Ranks of software developers, systems software; physical therapists and assistants; software developers, applications; market research analysts/data miners; cost estimators and database developers on the list of the top 10 hot careers for 2012, according to a research team at the University of California San Diego: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Source: University of California San Diego Extension.

Percentage of counseling professionals who agree that wives should prioritize their husbands over their kids, according to a survey by YourTango.com: 50

Percentage of experts who say working parents should share parenting duties equally: 96

Contrary to common "wisdom," percentage of experts who disagree with the assertion that couples without kids are happier than couples with kids: 78

Source: YourTango.com.

Percentage of working Americans who said they remain with their current employers because of benefits, according to a survey by the American Psychological Association: 60

Percentage who reported staying because of the pay: 59

Percentage of respondents who said they choose to stay because their jobs fit well with the other aspects of their lives: 67

Source: APA.

Mile for mile, number of times higher the crash rate is for drivers ages 16 and 17 than for middle-aged drivers, according to a special report by Consumer Reports: 9

Mile for mile, number of times higher the fatal crash rate is for drivers 80 and older than for middle-aged drivers: 5.5

Source: Consumer Reports.

Among adults who have children of driving age, percentage who said that they had to buy their own first car vs. 14 percent who said that their parents purchased it for them, according to a survey conducted by AutoTrader.com: 53

Percentage of those same adults who bought their child's first car for them: 41

Percentage of their children who purchased their first car for themselves: 17

Source: AutoTrader.com.

Percentage of Americans who estimate they wash their hands for just five to 15 seconds, according to findings of the fourth annual Healthy Hand Washing Survey conducted by Bradley Corp.: 57

Amount of time recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for hand washing -- with a suggestion to sing "Happy Birthday" twice to allow enough time to remove and rinse off germs: 20 seconds

Source: Bradley Corp.

Number of new commercial airplanes -- valued at $670 billion -- that China will need over the next 20 years, according to Boeing: 5,260

Estimated percentage of the demand in China that will be for growth instead of replacement: 75

Estimated annual percentage increase Chinese carriers are expected to experience in international expansion over the next 20 years: 8.9

Source: Boeing.

Percentage of HR managers who said their company often conducts employment interviews via video, up from just 14 percent one year ago, according to an OfficeTeam survey: 63

Percentage of respondents who think their organization will use video more frequently to meet with applicants in the next three years: 13

Source: OfficeTeam.

Amount of money paid out by the long-term-care insurance industry in 2011 in claim benefits to over 200,000 individuals, according to an American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance study: $6.6 billion

Source: AALTCI.

Idle Thought

"The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice." -- Ernest Hemingway

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

From nursery school to college, estimated number of students who are headed to the classroom (that is more than 1 out of 4 of the total U.S. population aged 3 and over): 77 million

Of the 56 million elementary and high school students enrolled this fall, percentage who will attend private schools: 11

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of U.S. adults who have said they have had a "friend breakup" over a money dispute, according to a survey from CouponCabin.com: 20

Source: CouponCabin.

Percentage of workers who characterized themselves as "occasional voters" when participating in office politics, limiting their involvement to issues that affect them directly, according to a Robert Half survey: 40

Percentage who said they are "neutral parties" and stay completely out of the fray: 39

Percentage who said, "I have to play the game to get ahead": 14

Source: Robert Half Management Resources.

Percentage of U.S. teachers who see hunger in the classroom, according to a survey released by Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry campaign: 60

Percentage of teachers who agree that school breakfast is especially important for academic achievement: 90

Ranks of increased concentration (95 percent), better academic performance (89 percent) and better behavior in the classroom (73 percent) on the list of results that teachers see when children have a good breakfast: 1, 2, 3

Source: NoKidHungry.org/teachers.

Percentage of Americans who say that toilet paper should be hung with the roll overhanging not underhanging, according to a nationwide survey conducted by NetPlenish: 75

Number of minutes Americans spend every year just trying to find the end of the toilet roll: 30

Source: NetPlenish.

Percentage of people who fell into the "obese" or "morbidly obese" categories who believe they have been discriminated against when applying for a job or promotion, according to a Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll: 52

Percentage who said they have been socially shunned: 40

Percentage who felt they've been discriminated against when being seated in theaters or restaurants: 36

Source: Harris Interactive.

Number of colleges, universities, art and trade schools across the country that offer courses, professional certificates, undergraduate or graduate degrees in video game design, development and programming, according to research from the Entertainment Software Association: 381

Source: Entertainment Software Association.

Number of emerging and high-growth market acquisitions completed by U.S.-based companies in the first half of 2012, according to KPMG International's Emerging Markets International Acquisition Tracker (EMIAT) study: 108

Ranks of Brazil, Central America and the Caribbean, and South and East Asia on the list of the most popular geographic targets for U.S. companies in 2012: 1, 2, 3

Source: KPMG LLP.

Percentage of travelers who plan to take a leisure trip this autumn, according to the results of TripAdvisor's annual fall travel survey: 85

Percentage who said rising gas prices will not affect their fall travel plans: 84

Percentage of travelers who plan to spend more on fall travel than they did in 2011: 34

Source: TripAdvisor.

Percentage of checking account holders who had considered switching their accounts to a different bank within the past year, according to a Consumer Reports National Research Center survey: 19

Percentage of those who considered switching who cited fee increases for routine services as one of the reasons they wanted to move their account to a new bank: 43

Source: Consumer Reports.

Idle Thought

"When I feed the hungry, they call me a saint. When I ask why people are hungry, they call me a communist." -- Helder Camara, archbishop

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

Percentage of U.S.-based midsized companies that incurred unintended expenses related to noncompliance with government regulations in the past year, according to a study conducted by the ADP Research Institute: 33

Average number of fines or penalties incurred by businesses that process payroll in-house: 5.7

Average number of fines or penalties for companies that outsource their payroll: 2

Source: ADP.

Percentage of travelers who are more likely to overindulge on food on vacation than while at home, according to a survey by TripAdvisor: 65

Percentage who are more likely to overindulge on alcohol: 49

In spite of calorie-laden temptations on the road, percentage of respondents who rarely or never feel guilty about their vacation excesses, post-trip: 81

Source: TripAdvisor.

Value of the global pet food market in 2011, according to a market report published by Transparency Market Research: $58.6 billion

Expected value by 2017: $74.8 billion

Percentage of the total revenue accounted for by North America, the largest regional segment for the pet food industry in terms of revenue generation: 40

Source: Transparency Market Research.

Percentage of Americans (18 and over) who have engaged in "sexting," according to research from the makers of Trojan Brand Condoms: 23

Percentage who have sent a naughty photo or video: 16

Source: Trojan Brand Condoms.

Of 19 world markets studied, percentage of respondents in the United States (the only country with a minority percentage) who say they feel younger than their age, according to research by Euro RSCG Worldwide: 47

Percentage of people in the global sample who are also confident they look younger than most of their peers: 55

Source: Euro RSCG.

Year that Edwin Perkins invented Kool-Aid, according to the Census Bureau: 1927

Estimated number of gallons of Kool-Aid that are consumed worldwide each year: 500 million

Source: Census Bureau.

By using the new stop-start technology that automatically shuts off the engine when a driver is stuck in traffic or waiting for a red light to change, percentage improvement that can be achieved in fuel economy, according to the AAA: 12

Cost of the system where stop-start is offered as an option: $300

If gasoline costs $3.75 per gallon, amount saved annually in fuel costs by the owner of a car that normally gets 20 mpg and is driven 12,000 miles per year: $167

Source: AAA.

Percentage of rewards card holders who reported this May they would use rewards for summer vacations, according to the Capital One Rewards Barometer: 33

Percentage of respondents who actually redeemed rewards: 21

Source: Capital One Financial Corp.

In the U.K., impact in pounds sterling that the betting industry had on the U.K. economy, according to a Deloitte report: 3 billion pounds

Estimated number of jobs that the industry supports: 100,000

Estimated amount of money that Americans spend per year on state-run lotteries alone: $50 billion

Source: PayPerHead.com.

Percentage of consumers who said that they have been lured into stores due to back-to-school sales and promotions for items under $1, according to the results of PriceGrabber's back-to-school shopping survey: 25

Percentage of consumers who chose "sales" as the top retailer promotion that will entice them to make a back-to-school purchase this year: 88

Source: PriceGrabber.com.

Idle Thought

"The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of." -- Blaise Pascal

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