Figuratively Speaking

Percentage of U.S. employees who don't believe their bosses encourage them to take allotted vacation days, according to Randstad U.S. Employee Engagement Study: 39

Percentage who say their bosses don't help them disconnect from work while on vacation: 45

Source: Randstad.

Rank of Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg (who boasts a personal fortune of $41.6 billion) on the Wealth-X list of the wealthiest individuals under the age of 35: 1

Rank of Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz (with an estimated net worth of $9.3 billion) on the list: 2

Rank of Huiyan Yang (net worth $5.9 billion) and the richest woman on the list: 3

Of the world's top 20 wealthiest individuals under the age of 35, number who are from the United States: 11

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of more than 23,000 Laureate students and more than 4,000 non-Laureate students in 22 countries who believe that their course of study will give them the career skills necessary to succeed, according to a survey of student attitudes by Laureate International Universities and Zogby Analytics: 75

Percentage of students around the world who say that universities should work directly with employers to help teach students the skills they need to be successful: 93

Source: Laureate Education Inc.

In the United States today, estimated number of students at all levels of schooling -- some 41.7 million from nursery through elementary school, almost 17 million in high school, and about 19 1/2 million in college: 78 million

Percentage of young adults who have a high school diploma: 80

Source: Census Bureau.

Percentage of children who were more likely to "share" or "be helpful" in kindergarten who were also more likely to earn a high school diploma, according to findings of a 20-year study published in the American Journal of Public Health: 54

Percentage who were more likely to have a full-time job at the age of 25: 46

Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Percentage of people who said they would be willing to donate their kidney to a friend in need, if they are a match, according to a survey conducted by Skout: 81

Percentage who would be willing to skip alcoholic beverages themselves in support of a friend who's on the wagon: 59

Percentage of people who would drop whatever they are doing to help a friend with a broken-down car: 92

Source: Skout.

Percentage of Americans who don't know, even in general terms, what the nuclear agreement with Iran is all about, according to a poll from iMediaEthics: 75

Percentage who said it was to authorize Iran to have a limited number of nuclear weapons: 11

Percentage who said it was to allow Iran to use U.S. technology to build nuclear power plants: 9

Source: iMediaEthics.

Today, total number of wireless subscriber connections in the United States -- 36 million more devices than there are Americans and a wireless penetration rate of 110 percent -- according to the Wireless Association: 355 million

To meet the constant increase in Americans' demand for mobile devices and services, amount wireless carriers invested into the U.S. economy in 2014 capital expenditures: $32 billion

Source: CTIA -- The Wireless Association.

Percentage of Americans who have done at least an hour of yoga in the past month, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs: 20

Percentage who have done yoga on their own: 13

Percentage who have done yoga in a class or group setting: 7

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Average age of romance book buyers (down from 44 in 2013), according to Nielsen's Romance Book Buyer Report: 42

Percentage of these readers who are aged 18 to 44, which includes the coveted millennial demographic: 44

In the first quarter of 2014, percentage of romance books that were purchased by men, up from 12 percent in 2013: 15

Source: Nielsen Analytics.

Idle Thought

"The world is changed not by the self-regarding, but by men and women prepared to make fools of themselves." -- P.D. James, novelist

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

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Rank of "The Bank of Mom and Dad" at 32 percent on the list of major sources of college funding, according to "How America Pays for College 2015," the national study from Sallie Mae and Ipsos: 1

Ranks of scholarships and grants (30 percent), student borrowing (16 percent), student income and savings (11 percent), parent borrowing (6 percent) and contributions from relatives and friends (5 percent) on the list: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of employees who plan to work longer than the current retirement age in their country, according to a 34-country survey by Randstad: 77

Percentage of employers who believe workers 55 and older are less productive than workers under 35, despite studies showing them to be as productive: 37

Percentage who believe there is more absenteeism among older workers, despite studies showing there is less absenteeism: 36

Source: Randstad.

Percentage of employers who say the No. 1 behavior that hurts an employee's chances for promotion is having a negative or pessimistic attitude, according to a survey by Weber Shandwick: 62

Ranks of regularly showing up to work late and using vulgar language: 2, 3

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of people who say they'd prefer to kiss their pet over their significant other, according to a Skout survey taken in honor of International Kissing Day: 19

Percentage of people say they'd prefer to kiss their pet rather than family or friends: 43

Source: Skout.

Percentage of Americans, who consider themselves to be "haves" in U.S. society, according to a Gallup Poll: 58

Percentage who put themselves in the "have-not" group: 38

Percentage of Americans who say they do not think of U.S. society as being divided into groups of haves and have-nots: 54

Source: Gallup Organization.

During the Labor Day weekend, percentage of consumers who plan on relaxing at home, according to a Retailmenot.com survey: 64

Defeating the purpose of the holiday, percentage of employed Americans who will spend Labor Day weekend catching up on work: 14

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

In 2013, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags, the vast majority of this amount ($3.9 million) for U.S. flags made in China, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: $4 million

Dollar value of trade in 2013 between the United States and the United Kingdom, making the British, our adversary in 1776, our seventh-leading trading partner today: $100 billion

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of the U.S. population who are now listening to music online, according to Nielsen research: 79

Percentage of those who pay for streaming services, and are more likely to buy the album than free-streamers (6 percent): 14

Source: Nielsen Media Research.

Percentage of Americans who say that the statement "I am concerned about the planet we are leaving behind for future generations" describes them completely or very well; according to the results of a Harris Poll: 44

Percentage of respondents who say the current focus on the environment in our society is not going far enough: 56

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of North American male senior executives who say they aspire to be a top leader of a large company some day, according to a survey of people working in large companies by Weber Shandwick: 22

Percentage of North American female senior executives who said the same: 9

According to the senior executives polled, the percentage of large companies with a female CEO: 23

Actual number that have a female CEO: 8

Source: Weber Shandwick.

Idle Thought

"Never underestimate the determination of a kid who is time rich and cash poor." -- Cory Doctorow, author and journalist

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

Average hourly wage for manufacturing jobs, according to the Manufacturing Institute: $34

Percentage of parents who think the average hourly wage for manufacturing jobs is $22 an hour or less, according to a survey conducted for the Alcoa Foundation in partnership with the nonprofit SkillsUSA: 89

Rank of manufacturing workers on the list of workers with the highest job tenure in the private sector: 1

Source: SkillsUSA.

Percentage of Americans who say two is the ideal number of children for a family to have, according to Gallup: 48

When Gallup asked why couples aren't having more kids, percentage of Americans, whether with or without children, who cited the costs associated with raising a child: 65

Average cost of raising a child from birth to age 18 (up from $198,560 in 1960), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture: $245,340

Source: Gallup Organization.

Percentage of students who say they exclusively prefer print course materials because of the usability and familiarity of print (despite a likely higher price tag), according to the National Association of College Stores: 46

Source: NACS.

Percentage of Americans who do not know the combined total credit limit of their credit cards, according to a survey conducted by LendingTree: 42

Percentage who do not know the highest annual percentage rate of their credit cards: 58

Percentage of card-carrying Americans who pay credit card interest without even knowing what the interest payments are: 20

Source: Lending Tree.

Percentage of parents who say they are looking forward to children getting back to school, according to a survey by RetailMeNot.com: 90

Percentage who are looking forward to the extra time to themselves: 36

Percentage who are eager to return to a more routine budget: 36

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

Estimated number of miles Americans have driven over the last 12 months, according to Convergex: 3.1 trillion

Estimated number of round trips to the sun (93 million miles away) this represents: 15,000

Averaging 3.1 trillion miles per year, the number of years it would take to reach the nearest star: 8

Source: Convergex.

Percentage of convenience store retailers who say they sell fresh fruits and vegetables, according to NACS member survey: 77

Percentage who sell packaged salads: 57

Percentage growth in the sales of fresh fruits and vegetables in convenience stores -- nearly four times the overall 2.7 percent growth rate of produce sales in the United States in 2014, according to Nielsen data: 10.3

Source: National Association of Convenience Stores.

Year that the U.S. Postal Service issued the first stamps -- before which there were no uniform stamps, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1847

Year that the Postal Service introduced the ZIP code to help speed mail service: 1963

That year, number of pieces of mail the service handled: 68 billion

Number of pieces of mail handled annually today: 155 billion

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Among Americans with children under 18 at home during the summer months, percentage who say their children consume more movies, according to the results of a Harris Poll: 53

Percentage of these parents who say their children watch more television during the summer: 52

According to parents, ranks of playing outdoors and swimming among their children's most enjoyed summer activities: 1, 2

Source: The Harris Poll.

Percentage of households with school-age children who plan to spend the same amount or more than last year for back-to-school supplies, according to Meijer survey results: 75

Percentage of students who will be helping with school expenses (up from 33 percent in 2014): 40

Source: Meijer.

Idle Thought

"Every student needs someone who says, simply, "You mean something. You count." -- Tony Kushner, playwright

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