Figuratively Speaking

Percentage of Americans who say the No. 1 reason they have trouble sleeping at night is because of money worries, according to a survey by the National Sleep Foundation: 36

Percentage who said stress about the pandemic: 29

Percentage who said stress about family or relationships: 28

Source: National Sleep Foundation.

Percentage of seniors who plan to work full time past age 70, according to survey by the American Advisors Group: 18

Percentage who plan to work full time for the rest of their lives: 12

Percentage who plan on working part time or taking up a side gig: 46

Source: American Advisors Group.

Of Americans who go to restaurants, percentage who say they always tip the server or waitstaff, according to a survey by Bankrate.com: 75

Percentage who say they never tip: 5

Percentage who always tip their hairstylist/barber: 63

Percentage who say they never tip: 9

Percentage who always tip for food delivery: 59

Percentage who say they never tip: 6

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of Americans in relationships who now feel more committed to their partner as a result of pandemic, according to a survey conducted by Lovehoney, in partnership with the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University: 56

Percentage who now feel more emotional intimacy with their partner and say their partner better understands their sexual needs: 55

Source: Lovehoney.

Percentage of Americans who report that cost is the top consideration for their college choice, according to a new survey from BestColleges.com: 60

Percentage who feel prestige is an important factor: 7

Percentage of respondents who also cite the percentage of graduates employed in their desired field soon after graduation: 43

Source: BestColleges.

Percentage increase in technology spending for K-12 students for 2021, following a pandemic-fueled push into the digital age, according to the 2021 Deloitte Back-to-School survey: 37

Percentage of households that plan to purchase fewer traditional back-to-school supplies: 44

Source: Deloitte.

Percentage of U.S. consumers who regularly set aside money for savings, according to a Coinstar survey conducted by Atomik Research: 70

Percentage who maintain a budget: 76

Percentage who plan to tighten their belt by actively spending less: 46

Percentage who are optimistic about staying on budget: 78

Source: Coinstar.

Percentage of consumers who say chronic conditions make it difficult to maintain their health, according to research by Acosta: 33

Percentage of consumers who say self-care means focusing on healthy eating: 49

Percentage who say self-care also means getting regular medical checkups: 42

Percentage who say it also means having a regular exercise routine: 40

Percentage who say it means making time for relaxation: 36

Source: Acosta.

Percentage of Americans who say that the U.S. performance in the Olympic Games makes them proud to be an American, according to an Ipsos poll: 56

Percentage who believe that Olympic athletes should be allowed to engage in protests, such as kneeling during the national anthem or wearing clothing with political messages: 32

Source: Ipsos.

Percentage of parents who would spend at least $50 to avoid a tantrum or argument with their child, according to a survey from Policygenius: 25

Of those parents, percentage who would spend more than $1,000: 25

Source: Policygenius.

Idle Thought

"The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?" -- Pablo Casals, cellist, conductor and composer (1876-1973)

Percentage of employees currently working at least one day week from home who said they would quit on the spot if they had to go back to the office five days a week, according to a survey by conducted by Stanford, the University of Chicago, and Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico: 6� Percentage who would begin looking for another job: 36

Value (percentage) employees place on working from home in terms of a wage increase: 7

Source: Stanford study

Percentage of gay GenZers (those born between 1998-2010) who are out to their mothers or other female parental figures, according to a study reported by the American Psychological Association: 66� Percentage who were out to their fathers or other male parental figures: 49

Source: American Psychological Association

Percentage of Americans who own at least one pet, with a plurality owning more than one (34%), according to an Ipsos poll: 58� Percentage of pet owners who got their pets prior to the start of the pandemic in March 2020: 80� Percentage of Baby Boomers who are likely to not have any pets at all: 49� Despite the long lengths of time spent at home with pets during quarantine, percentage of pet owners who are not anxious about leaving their pets home alone now that quarantine is lifted: 77

Source: Ipsos

Percentage of companies that were successful during COVID and attributed their success to discussing what needed to be done and taking action, according to VitalSmarts: 46� Percentage who said that remaining agile was paramount: 61� Source: VitalSmarts

Amount families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend on school items this year, according to the National Retail Federation: $848.90� Total back-to-school spending, a record in NRF survey history: $33.9 billion� Source: National Retail Federation

Among consumers who do not plan to buy an electric vehicle, percentage who felt EVs are too expensive, according to research from Parks Associates: 27� Percentage who cited limited number of charging stations available: 24� Source: Parks Associates

Percentage of consumers who say that energy -- not water or time -- is most important to them when it comes to home appliance efficiency, according to a survey by Whirlpool: 84� Percentage of males who are attuned to high-efficiency laundry products: 71� Percentage of females who are attuned: 54� Source: Whirlpool

Percentage of companies adopting or planning to adopt a hybrid model of work now or in the future, according to a survey by FlexJobs: 70� Rank of marketing, accounting and finance, and computer/IT as the career categories that have seen the largest increase in hybrid opportunities: 1, 2, 3� Source: FlexJobs.com

Percentage of teens who feel that they are behind educationally because of the pandemic, with more than a third (37%) of those who feel they are behind permanently, according to a survey conducted for Junior Achievement: 39� In addition to attending school in-person and interacting with other students and teachers, percentage of teens who need "emotional support" from teachers, parents, counselors and other caring adults to help their "mental well-being": 34� Source: Junior Achievement

Rank of Delta Air Lines for best overall experience for flyers, according to a study conducted by The Points Guy and reported by Bankrate.com: 1� Rank of reliability (30%), experience (25%), loyalty (25%) and costs and reach (20%) on the list of the four objective categories to determine the final rankings: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Bankrate.com

Idle Thought

"For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.'" -- John Greenleaf Whittier, poet (1807-1892)

Percentage by which median home-sale price increased year over year for the period ending July 18, 2021, according to Redfin: 20

Median home-sale price, a record high: $364,160

Percentage of homes for sale that had an offer within the first two weeks of being on the market: 52

Percentage of homes that sold above the list price: 55

Source: Redfin.

Percentage of Americans who take something to help them sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation: 63

Percentage who take sleeping pills: 23

Percentage who take over-the-counter sleep aids: 22

Percentage who use marijuana, CBD or alcohol: 10

Source: National Sleep Foundation.

Percentage of employees who say that workload is the top cause for them to consider leaving an employer, according to a survey from Eagle Hill Consulting: 52

Percentage who say it's juggling their personal and professional lives: 44

Percentage who attribute burnout to time pressures: 37

Source: Eagle Hill Consulting.

As America recovers from the pandemic and prices for goods and services rise at a rapid pace, percentage of Americans who think the cause is supply-chain issues, according to the Ipsos coronavirus consumer tracker: 27

Percentage who think individual businesses are raising prices to make up for losses during the pandemic: 20

Source: Ipsos.

Percentage of unemployed job-seekers who are frustrated because they are not finding the right jobs to apply for, according to a survey by Flexjobs.com: 48

Percentage who are willing to take a pay cut in order to secure a job: 85

Source: Flexjobs.com.

Percentage of U.S. consumers with investment accounts who say they avoid investing in at least one company (with tobacco, private prison and oil companies topping the list), according to a survey by LendingTree: 51

Percentage who feel guilty investing in certain stocks but do so anyway: 32

Source: LendingTree.

Percentage of Americans who are taking multiple vacations this summer, favoring shorter trips over the traditional weeklong or more vacation, according to a survey by Allianz Partners: 34

Percentage of Americans who are eager to travel and will take the first opportunity to take a vacation: 44

Average trip length in days: 4

Source: Allianz Global Assistance USA.

Percentage of Americans who say they are in financial recovery mode as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to findings from Northwestern Mutual: 58

Among the 58% of Americans who say they are in financial recovery mode, percentage who are planning month to month (with only 14% actively planning more than five years out): 24

Percentage who say they are in mid-stage recovery -- indicating they have begun making up ground on financial losses, but are not yet back to their pre-pandemic financial level: 47

Source: Northwestern Mutual.

Percentage of hiring managers who anticipate adding new, permanent positions in the second half of 2021, according to a survey by Robert Half: 48

Percentage who plan to fill vacated positions or bring back furloughed employees: 48

Among the 28 U.S. cities in the survey, ranks of San Diego, Dallas, Atlanta and Los Angeles as the cities most likely to have employers who expect to staff up: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Robert Half.

Pre-pandemic, percentage of higher-education institutions that made considerable use of online homework or courseware systems, according to the Digital Learning Pulse Survey by Cengage: 22

Today, percentage of faculty who report considerable use of them, with 74% expecting use to "remain the same" or "increase" post-pandemic: 58

Source: Cengage.

Idle Thought

"The real index of civilization is when people are kinder than they need to be" -- Louis de Bernieres, novelist (b. 1954)