Year that the city of Berkeley, California, passed a soda tax, according a report by the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley: 2014

Four months later, percentage drop in self-reported consumption of soda -- with residents also reported to be drinking more water: 21

Source: University of California, San Diego Extension.

During the second quarter 2016, amount of credit card debt racked up by U.S. consumers -- the largest second-quarter accumulation since at least 1986, according to the personal-finance website WalletHub: $34.4 billion

Average indebted household's balance: $7,817

Projected amount we are now on track to surpass in outstanding balances by the end of 2016: $1 trillion

Source: WalletHub.

Cost to health-care systems worldwide of physical inactivity (defined by the World Health Organization as not meeting its recommendation of 150 minutes per week per adult of moderate intensity physical activity), according to a study reported in The Lancet: $53.8 billion

Of this cost, amount that was paid by the public sector: $31.2 billion

Amount paid by the private sector: $12.9 billion

Amount paid by households: $9.7 billion

Estimated productivity losses caused by physical inactivity-related deaths: $13.7 billion

Source: Global Wellness Institute.

Median household income for families with two full-time working parents and at least one child under 18 at home: $102,400

Median income for households where the father works full time and the mother works part time: $84,000

Median income for households where the father works full time and the mother is not employed: $55,000

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Percentage of college costs in 2015-16 that were paid for with scholarships and grants, according to a national study from Sallie Mae: 34

Ranks of parent income and savings (29 percent), student borrowing (13 percent), student income and savings (12 percent), parent borrowing (7 percent) and contributions from relatives and friends (5 percent) on the list of ways used to cover the cost of attendance: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage increase in over-the-top (i.e., internet-based) video service adoption among U.S. broadband households since 2014, according to data from Parks Associates: 12

Percentage growth in password sharing over that same time: 8

Ranks of Netflix, WWE Network, Hulu and MLB.TV on the list of OTT video services with the highest percentage of the population willing to recommend the service to others: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Parks Associates.

Percentage of Americans who agree that the U.S. has come a long way toward reaching gender equality, according to results of a Harris Poll: 75

Percentage who acknowledge that, compared to previous generations, men today are willing to take on more responsibilities at home: 86

Percentage of U.S. adults who believe the next decade will see more female leaders: 91

Percentage who say they will have higher income potential: 65

Source: The Harris Poll.

Percentage of working adults in the U.S. who say that their workplace has a positive impact on their health, according to a NPR, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health poll: 26

Percentage who say it has a negative impact on their health: 16

Percentage who say that it has a negative impact on their stress levels: 43

Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

In China, percentage by which a government plan hopes to reduce its citizens' meat consumption, according to data from Global Footprint Network: 50

Number of tons this is calculated to lower the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from China's livestock industry by 2030: 1 billion

Source: Global Footprint Network.

Idle Thought

"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it." -- Henry Ford

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

Average percentage less the interest rate charged for a new car loan is versus that for the average used-car loan, according to WalletHub's 2016 Labor Day Auto Financing Report: 17

Average amount that buyers with fair credit will end up spending in additional interest payments over the life of a $20,000, five-year loan than consumers with excellent credit: $6,671

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of Americans who consider their homes to be at least somewhat cluttered with items they no longer use, according to a study conducted by ClearVoice Research and commissioned by OfferUp: 48

Percentage who have a room in their home they cannot use because it is filled with things they rarely use: 14.3

Percentage of Americans who believe they would gain more space in their homes by purging unused items: 72

Percentage who haven't decluttered for over a year: 41

Source: Clear Voice Research.

When thinking about media time with their family, percentage of families who say they consume different media in the same room, according to an Ipsos Connect survey: 32

Percentage who still consume the same media in the same room: 51

Percentage who consume different media in all different rooms: 13

Source: Ipsos Media.

Among girls who have ever worn makeup, percentage who have negative feelings when they are not wearing makeup, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of the Renfrew Center: 20

Percentage of these girls who said that going without makeup made them feel more attractive: 5

Percentage who began wearing makeup between the ages of 8 and 13: 66

Source: The Harris Poll.

Percentage of Americans who say labor unions mostly help the U.S. economy, according to a Gallup Poll: 52

Percentage who believe unions mostly hurt it: 41

Source: Gallup Organization.

To buy the average convertible at a cost of $33,560, number of days that a public relations assistant making $50,000 annually would need to work to pay for it, according to research by the Hay Group: 175

Number of days that a junior accountant who makes on average $58,000 a year would have to work: 150 days

Number of days that a vice president of finance making on average $239,000 would need to work to pay for the car: 37

Source: Korn/Ferry International.

Ranks of Portland (Oregon), Phoenix, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Minneapolis/St. Paul on the list of the best metropolitan areas for homeowners, according to a Bankrate.com report: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of Hartford, Connecticut; New York City; Providence, Rhode Island; Los Angeles and Buffalo, New York, on the list of the worst: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Number of factors reviewed to assemble the list (home affordability; price appreciation; property taxes; homeowners insurance; energy; maintenance costs; foreclosures and how rapidly rents rose over the past six years for which data are available): 8

Source: Bankrate.com.

Average balance of an individual retirement account (IRA) in 2014, the latest data available, according to new research by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute: $100,000

Because many people own more than one IRA, average total IRA balance per individual IRA owner: $127,600

Source: EBRI.

Year that the Oberlin Collegiate Institute in Ohio became the first college in the U.S. to grant equal status to men and women in degree programs: 1837

Of the 40 percent of the population ages 18 to 24 enrolled in college, estimated number who are women, compared to just over 8.6 million men: 10.5 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage higher that motor vehicle deaths were through the first six months of 2016 than in 2015, an 18 percent higher rate than 2014 at the six-month mark, according to preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council: 9

Estimated number of people who have been killed on U.S. roads since January -- enough to fill 382 school buses: 19,100

Estimated number who were seriously injured: 2.2 million

Estimated total cost of these deaths and injuries: $205 billion

Source: National Safety Council.

Idle Thought

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." -- Aristotle

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

Percentage of millennials who sleep with their smartphone by their side, according to coupofy.com: 78

Percentage who check their messages within an hour of waking up: 82

Chances that a millennial is checking messages 10 times or more an hour: 1 in 5

Source: coupofy.com.

Rank of IBM as the brand people in China would most like to work for, according to a survey by Randstad: 1

Rank of the Walt Disney Corp. in the United States: 1

Rank of BMW in Germany: 1

Rank of Ferrero in Italy: 1

Rank of Ikea in Sweden: 1

Source: Randstad.

Percentage of families who say they are surprised at how expensive child-care costs are, according to Care.com: 66

Percentage who say they just don't know where the money goes when it comes to spending on children: 60

Percentage who say child-care costs have influenced their careers: 67

Source: Care.com.

When advertising and marketing executives were asked which workspace arrangement they thought was most conducive to encouraging creativity, percentage of executives who chose open-concept office (unenclosed workspace for multiple people), according to research by staffing firm The Creative Group: 36

Percentage of workers who agreed: 26

Percentage of executives who chose a private office (enclosed workspace for one person): 18

Percentage of workers who agreed: 36

Source: The Creative Group.

In 2015, number of unmarried people in America age 18 and older, includes those who were never married, widowed or divorced, according to research by the U.S. Census Bureau: 109 million

Percentage of unmarried U.S. residents 18 and older who had never been married: 63

Percentage who were divorced: 24

Percentage who were widowed: 13

Number of households maintained by unmarried men and women in 2015, comprising 47 percent of households nationwide: 59 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

When Americans were asked if they could just pick one -- a yearly summer vacation or a desired outdoor living space -- percentage who chose the vacation, according to an Ipsos Reid Omnibus survey: 62

Percentage who said a yearly summer vacation is a real priority: 82

Percentage of respondents who said "peaceful, relaxing and stress-free" is their preferred type of summer vacation: 38

Source: Ipsos Reid Omnibus Services.

Percentage of executives who agreed that there is a long-term financial benefit to companies that make strong commitments to purpose-driven leadership, according to a Korn Ferry survey: 70

Percentage of respondents who reported seeing at least some degree of increased productivity when employees understand and embrace the mission and purpose of the organization: 97

Percentage who agreed to a great extent that their organizations engage employees with purpose: 50

Source: Korn/Ferry International.

During the school year, percentage of consumers who are making a concerted effort to buy healthier foods and take their kids' health into their own hands, according to a Nielsen survey: 64

Percentage of Americans who agree that breakfast is the most important meal of the day: 74

Despite morning being the most hectic part of the day, percentage of respondents who agree that breakfast is a meal made at home: 54

Source: Nielsen Insights.

Percentage of Americans who agree they love trying new things outside of their own culture, according to a Harris Poll: 78

Percentage of all U.S. adults who say it is at least very important that the foods they buy and consume contain multicultural flavors: 26

Source: The Harris Poll.

Rank of millennials (18 to 34 years old) on the list of the largest living generation in the country, according to research by Connections Education: 1

Percentage of children age 0 to 17 who had millennial parents in 2014, and this figure is expected to exceed 50 percent in 2016: 43

Source: Connections Education.

Idle Thought

"Life's too short to hang out with people who aren't resourceful." -- Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon

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