Figuratively Speaking

Ranks of dining out, shopping, vacations and retirement savings on the list of sacrifices parents are willing to make to help their children's dreams come true, according to a study commissioned by SunTrust Banks: 1, 2, 3, 4

Ranks of building character, keeping them physically active, sharing the love of a sport/activity and helping their child meet new friends on the list of top reasons parents fund their youngsters' ambitions: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: SunTrust Banks Inc.

Percentage of American workers who believe their bosses are a major cause of stress at work and can be as harmful to employees as passive smoking, according to Quartz and data from the American Psychology Association: 75

Percentage who would not leave the job -- statistics show that employees get used to their jobs despite being unhappy: 59

Source: American Psychological Association.

Percentage of Americans who haven't had a weeklong vacation in more than a year, according to a survey by Allianz Global Assistance: 51

Percentage who say it's been more than two years: 38

Percentage of Americans who said an annual vacation was important to them: 58

Source: Allianz Global Assistance.

Percentage of Americans who say the middle class is shrinking versus expanding, according to data from Northwestern Mutual: 45

Percentage who can see a time when the middle class completely disappears: 32

Percentage of Americans who still classify themselves as middle class: 68

Source: Northwestern Mutual.

Percentage of Americans who say they are personally involved in artistic activities -- including painting, photography, sewing and playing an instrument, among the most common -- according to a survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Americans for the Arts: 47

Percentage of Americans who have attended an arts event in the past year, including the theater, a zoo or botanical garden, historic site or musical performance: 72

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Rank of "excessive device use replacing conversation and human interaction" on the list of concerns about tech use that worry speech-language pathologists, according to a survey by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association: 1

Percentage who said their No. 1 piece of advice is to set reasonable parameters and model safe usage: 70

Source: ASHA.

On a great first date, percentage of women who want their date to compliment her appearance, according to a survey by Match.com: 94

Percentage who want their date to be waiting for her when she arrives: 90

Percentage who want their date to hug her: 8

Percentage who want their date to kiss her on the cheek: 71

Source: Match.com.

Percentage of American adults who are considering at least one cosmetic treatment in the next 12 months, according to a survey conducted on behalf of RealSelf: 37

Percentage who are considering nonsurgical procedures: 34

Percentage who are considering surgical ones: 24

Source: RealSelf.

Percentage of Americans who say they live within five minutes of a convenience store, according to a survey released by National Association of Convenience Stores: 64

Percentage of Americans in rural communities who say they are within 10 minutes of a convenience store: 86

Source: National Association of Convenience Stores.

Percentage of those sexually harassed at work who said they reported it, according to a CareerBuilder Survey: 29

Of those who did report it, percentage who said the issue was resolved: 76

Percentage who said the person stopped the harassment: 29

Percentage who said the person was fired: 21

While most employees stick it out, percentage of those harassed who said they left their job because of it: 13

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Idle Thought

"It's hard work being a person; you have to do it every single day." -- Carol Shields, "The Republic of Love"

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

Percentage of Americans who say that a teacher made a significant, positive impact on their life, according to an Ipsos/USA Today poll: 73

Percentage of parents of children under 18 who would even encourage their own child to become a teacher: 61

Percentage who say they approve of the teachers in their local public school district: 76

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of U.S. adults who say there are too many unknowns about old age to make it worth living to 100, according to a University of Phoenix Survey: 59

Percentage who indicated they would like to live to 100 if they were guaranteed to be of sound body and mind: 85

Percentage who said they would if their spouse, partner and/or loved ones were still alive: 79

Source: University of Phoenix.

Percentage of adults with credit card debt -- over 31 million Americans -- who think they have dug themselves too deep a hole to ever climb out, according to a new CreditCards.com report: 35

Source: CreditCards.com.

Number of homeowners who believe it's acceptable to tap into home equity to keep up with regular household bills, according to a Bankrate.com report: 24 million

Percentage of homeowners earning less than $30,000 per year who say it's OK to tap into home equity to cover ordinary bills, more than triple the percentage among those who make $75,000 or more: 31

Percentage of millennials who think borrowing from home equity to pay day-to-day bills is viable, compared to 12 percent of those who are older: 22

Percentage of homeowners who think home improvements/repairs are an adequate circumstance to borrow from home equity: 74

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of employers who regularly see recent college graduates struggle to adjust to the workplace, according to a white paper produced by the University of Massachusetts Medical School Transitions to Adulthood Center for Research (Transitions ACR) and The Jed Foundation: 77

In spite of this, percentage of employers who believe the majority of recent graduates come to work with all of the skills they need to succeed in the workplace: 64

Among employers, percentage who agree that many recent college graduates settle for jobs that are "good enough," rather than pursuing their dream job: 72

Source: Jed Foundation.

When technology leaders were asked which of the following they were willing to do when they face challenges filling an open full-time role, percentage who would work with a specialized recruiter, according to research from Robert Half Technology: 46

Percentage who would be more flexible on skills requirements and provide training to new hires: 45

Percentage who would divide responsibilities among existing teams: 45

Source: Robert Half Technology.

Estimated number of children who go to emergency rooms because of playground-related injuries annually, according to the National Safety Council: 200,000

Frequency of emergency room treatment of a child for a sports-related concussion: every 3 minutes

Source: National Safety Council.

Percentage of U.S. workers/job seekers who say that a lack of information about a job's total compensation package, including pay and benefits, is their biggest frustration, according to a survey from Glassdoor: 50

Ranks of "the employer announcing layoffs," "a poor first interaction with a recruiter or hiring manager" and "reading negative reviews from employees" on the list of reasons that would cause workers/job seekers to pull out of a recruitment process: 1, 2, 3

Source: Glassdoor.com.

For purchases under $10, percentage of Americans who prefer paying with cash -- over debit (30 percent) and credit cards (23 percent), according to a study of rewards credit cardholders from CreditCards.com: 45

Median cost at which rewards credit cardholders think it makes sense to use credit: $25

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of job seekers who say it's reasonable to "ghost" companies during the interview process, abruptly cutting off communication when they decide not to pursue a job, according to a new survey from Clutch: 48

Percentage of job seekers who ghost when they accept another job: 30

Source: Clutch.

Idle Thought

"To have and not to give is often worse than to steal." -- Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, writer

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

Although it is too early to assess the dollar damage of Florence, rank of 2005's Katrina on the list of the costliest U.S. tropical cyclones after accounting for inflation, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: 1

Estimated cost of Katrina: $160 billion

Ranks of 2017's Harvey ($125 billion), 2017's Maria ($90 billion), 2012's Sandy ($70.2 billion) and 2017's Irma ($50 billion): 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: NOAA.

Percentage of Americans who consider the cost of prescription drugs in the United States to be "unreasonable," according to a poll from the West Health Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit health care research organization: 75

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), national health spending in 2016: $3.3 trillion

Amount going toward prescription drugs: $328.6 billion

Source: West Health Institute.

Percentage of Americans who pronounce "caramel" as "CARE-ah-mel," according to a survey commissioned by HI-CHEW and conducted online by the Harris Poll: 57

Percentage who pronounce it as "CAR-mel": 36

Source: HI-CHEW.

Percentage of cannabis consumers who currently get their supply from a friend, according to a nationwide poll conducted by SoapBoxSample: 52

Percentage who go to a dispensary: 37

Percentage who shop online for cannabis: 18

Source: SoapBoxSample.

Ranks of family, career, fitness, hobbies and social life on the list of what fitness-conscious Americans consider most important in their lives, according to a study commissioned by Zoom: 1, 2 (tie), 4, 5

Percentage who said they do or plan to teach fitness as a priority to their children: 84

Source: Zoom.

Percentage of workers who said their typical lunch break lasts 30 minutes or less, according to research from staffing firm OfficeTeam: 56

Length of the average lunch break, down from 43 minutes in 2014: 39 minutes

Percentage of employees who confessed to working during lunch: 29

Source: OfficeTeam.

Percentage of first responders who agree that mental health is as important as physical health, according to a University of Phoenix survey: 93

Percentage who believe that people who receive counseling generally get better: 83

Source: University of Phoenix.

Average amount that Americans in the lowest income bracket (under $30,000 per year) spend annually on restaurant food, prepared drinks (such as coffee, tea and smoothies) and lottery tickets, according to a Bankrate.com report: $2,118

On average, percentage of their annual income such financial vices comprise, the largest percentage of any income bracket: 13

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of Americans who report that they are clean, according to an Ipsos poll: 99

Percentage who say maintaining good hygiene is a top priority: 92

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Amount of credit card debt that American consumers racked up during the second financial quarter of 2018 (the fourth-biggest Q2 increase ever), according to research by WalletHub: $29.8 billion

Amount extra that a Federal Reserve interest rate increase on Sept. 26 would cost people with credit card debt in the next year alone: $1.6 billion

Amount of credit card debt owed at the beginning of the year -- the most ever: $1 trillion-plus

Source: WalletHub.

Idle Thought

"To stimulate life, leaving it free, however, to unfold itself, that is the first duty of the educator." -- Maria Montessori, educator

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