Estimated number of Americans who think they will have trouble paying their credit card bills due to coronavirus, according to a survey by WalletHub: 67 million

Rank of coronavirus on the list of the top stressors in America today, above money problems, which has traditionally topped the list: 1

Source: WalletHub.

Amount less that female software engineers and data engineers make annually than males in the same role, according to a report by the DHI Group Inc. and Dice in their Gender Pay Gap in Tech report: $9,000

Amount less that female data architects make: $13,000

Amount less that female data scientists make: $10,000

Source: DHI Group Inc.

On average, number of times a week Americans say they feel sleepy, with 62% trying to "shake it off" as their primary response, according to the National Sleep Foundation's annual Sleep in America poll: 3

Of those who feel sleepy five to seven days a week, percentage who report especially high rates of irritability: 52

Percentage who report headaches: 40

Source: National Sleep Foundation.

Percentage of U.S. families who decided not to seek medical care -- everything from doctor visits to medications, vaccinations, annual exams, vision checks and more -- in the past year, specifically because of the cost, according to a Bankrate.com report: 32

Percentage of those with medical expenses in the past year who said the costs were higher than they anticipated: 50

Percentage who said the costs were lower than expected: 10

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of U.S. consumers who stated the coronavirus is not impacting their interest in international travel, according to a survey conducted March 7–9 by Travelzoo: 44

Percentage who said the coronavirus has impacted their planned international travel: 36

Of those respondents, percentage who are considering their options, including selecting an alternate destination, postponing the trip or canceling the trip: 59

Source: Travelzoo.

Percentage of professionals who say their organizations have a plan in place to keep their employees safe from COVID-19 that they are confident about, according to a survey from VitalSmarts: 34

Percentage who say they have a basic plan -- even if it is "hastily assembled": 43

Source: VitalSmarts.

Percentage of consumers who say they are worried about contracting the coronavirus, according to the market research team at Colling Media: 52

Percentage who say they are spending more than they usually budget on such items as cleaning products, toilet paper, tissues, hand sanitizers and water because of coronavirus concerns: 33

Source: Colling Media.

Percentage of patients who would forget to schedule a cleaning if they didn't receive a reminder from their dentist, according to research by Weave aimed at bringing attention to World Oral Health Day: 41

Percentage of people who avoid going to the dentist who say they regret it: 60

Source: Weave.

On average, number of petabytes (1 million gigabytes of digital information) of data that organizations manage, a nearly 40% increase since the average 9.70PB in 2018, and a staggering 831% increase since 2016, according to research by Dell Technologies Global Data Protection Index 2020 Snapshot: 13.53

On average, estimated total cost of data loss per organization over the last 12 months: $1 million-plus

Source: Dell Technologies.

Percentage of employees who say a whole new approach to education, skills training and learning, or an education revolution, is needed to better prepare people for the workforce, according to a survey conducted for Express Employment Professionals: 87

Percentage of U.S. employees who say schools are not doing a good job of preparing the next generation of workers for what their needs are after school: 54

Source: Express Employment Professionals.

Idle Thought

"The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy; we can all sense a mysterious connection to each other." -- Meryl Streep

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

Percentage of job applicants who gave false reasons for leaving a prior job, according to a survey of applicants, hiring managers, HR professionals and recruiters by Checkster: 46

Percentage who used a director title when their actual title was manager: 41

Percentage who claimed to have a degree from a prestigious university instead of their actual institution: 39

According to hiring managers, rank of faking references on the list of the worst things a job applicant could do in the hiring process: 1

Source: Checkster.

Even before COVID-19 hit the United States, percentage of Americans who were extremely or quite concerned about catching the flu, compared to just 32% who felt that way four years ago, according to the Bradley Corp.'s Healthy Hand-Washing Survey: 60

Percentage of Americans who said news coverage of cold and flu outbreaks has an impact on their hand-washing behavior: 50

Source: Bradley Corp.

Percentage of dating Americans who have borrowed money for a date, according to a LendingTree study: 19

Percentage of those surveyed who think it's more expensive to be in a couple than it is to be single: 75

Percentage who currently have dating-related debt: 10

Source: LendingTree.

Ranks of paying off credit card debt, buying a car, paying off other debt, buying a house, getting a raise or promotion at work, and increasing retirement savings on the list of respondents' biggest financial accomplishment from the last decade, according to a survey from DepositAccounts.com: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Source: DepositAccounts.com.

Percentage of mortgage holders who do not know the interest rate on their current residence, according to a Bankrate.com study: 27

Percentage of homeowners who never plan to move from their current home: 56

Percentage who say they are at least somewhat likely to renovate or remodel their current home during that time: 63

Of those likely to upgrade their current home, percentage who plan to turn to credit cards: 10

Source: Bankrate.com.

Value of a single lost tooth last year, according to Delta Dental's annual Tooth Fairy Poll: $3.70

Value shown in this year's survey, an increase of nearly 9%: $4.03

Source: Delta Dental.

Ranks of friendly competitions, themed breaks or potlucks, and wearing team apparel on the list of the most impactful activities among workers who reported a boost in spirits, according to research by research by Robert Half: 1, 2, 3

In a separate survey of professionals, average number of minutes per day that respondents said they spend discussing nonwork topics with colleagues: 34.25

Source: Robert Half.

Percentage of Americans who received a tax refund last year (median amount being $2,154), according to a survey from Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine and Barclays U.S. Consumer Bank: 74

Percentage who saved some or all of it: 67

Percentage who paid credit card bills: 25

Source: Commonwealth Public Affairs.

Percentage of Americans who say they were concerned about the cost of running their heater or air conditioner, according to a survey by Vivint Solar: 32

Percentage who reported that they were worried about the environmental impact of the energy used to heat and cool their homes: 14

Source: Vivint Solar.

Percentage of individuals who have sex with their partner weekly who are happy, according to a report commissioned by eharmony: 86

Percentage of couples who have sex monthly who say the same: 78

Percentage who have sex a few times per year who say the same: 66

Source: eharmony.

Idle Thought

"You can be young without money, but you can't be old without it." -- Tennessee Williams

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

Number of Americans who claim Irish ancestry (7 times Ireland's population), according to research by WalletHub: 32.1 million

Percentage of Americans who plan to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in 2020: 57

Percentage of celebrants who plan to wear green: 79

Market value of a leprechaun's pot of gold (1,000 1 oz. gold coins): $1.6 million

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of U.S. adults who currently own unredeemed gift cards or store credits, including airline redemption vouchers, according to a new Bankrate.com survey released today: 50

Among those, amount the average adult has in unused cards/credits: $167

Collectively, amount that represents in untouched money: $21 billion

Source: Bankrate.com.

While spring break is one of the most popular travel times of the year, percentage of Gen Z (those born between 1995 and 2015) who are skeptical about traveling due to the spread of COVID-19, according to the results of a survey by EduBirdie: 76

Percentage who said they are considering canceling existing travel plans: 23

Percentage of respondents who said they prefer beach destinations over a colder ski vacation: 49

Source: EduBirdie.

Percentage of single parents who reported that they are hesitant to get back into the dating game because they are nervous about how their kids will feel/react, according to a survey by Dating.com: 76

Percentage who said that they weren't sure how to approach dating because it had been so long since they have been intimate with another person: 24

Source: Dating.com Group.

Percentage of co-working employees who prefer to work in their co-working space, according to a survey from Clutch: 33

Percentage who would prefer to work remotely: 39

Percentage who would rather work in a traditional office space: 28

Source: Clutch.

Percentage of people who report being in a political discussion where they were either the recipient or the initiator of verbal attacks, insults or name-calling -- up from 41% who said the same thing in 2016, according to a survey by VitalSmarts: 55

Back in 2016, percentage who said they'd had a political discussion that hurt a relationship: 42

Now, percentage who say a political discussion has hurt a relationship: 71

Percentage who add the relationship has never fully recovered: 23

Source: VitalSmarts.

Percentage of professionals who said their company organizes activities to celebrate sporting events like March Madness, according to research by Robert Half: 75

Of those, percentage who feel these festivities improve their on-the-job morale: 78

Ranks of friendly competitions, themed breaks or potlucks, and wearing team apparel on the list of the most impactful activities among workers who reported a boost in spirits: 1, 2, 3

Source: Robert Half.

Percentage of employees who admit they put their phone on silent mode at various times throughout the workday just to minimize the interruptions, according to a survey by TRUCE Software: 89

Percentage who admit they have some level of automated alerts set up on their phones, sending them alerts throughout the day -- many of which are non-work-related: 80

Source: TRUCE Software.

Percentage of all kids who are wearing shoes that are too small, putting them at risk of foot deformity, according to a BlitzResults survey: 67

Of these, percentage who are wearing one size too small (with 19% wearing two sizes too small): 48

Percentage who are wearing the correct size: 33

Source: BlitzResults.com.

Percentage of patients who would not recommend a surgeon who left unsightly scars, according to a nationwide survey by BandGrip: 67

Percentage who would recommend a surgeon who left cosmetically pleasing scars: 98

Percentage who rated the quality of the surgeon as high-quality based on the look of the scar: 65

Source: BandGrip.

Idle Thought

"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants." -- Epictetus

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