KEY FINDINGS NEWSLETTER
September/October 2004

Racial Segregation in America
This year's 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education landmark decision, regarding the segregation of public schools, prompted several research studies. One study found that a majority of Americans (59%) believe that Black children today have educational opportunities equal to those of White children. Some 31% of Blacks and 63% of Whites believe this. When asked what they think is the most important way to improve educational opportunities for Black children, Whites' most common response was more family responsibility (11% of Whites; 5% of Blacks). Blacks said having better teachers (12% of Blacks; 6% of Whites) is the answer. In an interview of class-of-1980 high school graduates, researchers found that while many are employed in integrated workplaces, 60% (including 75% of Whites) live in racially segregated neighborhoods, and virtually all attend one-race places of worship and have the same ethnic or racial background as their closest friends.

Women Owned Businesses
Between 1997 and 2004, the number of majority-women-owned businesses (own 51% or more) grew 22.9% while the number of all privately held businesses rose only 9%. Today, majority-women-owned businesses make up 29.9% of all privately held businesses, employ 9.8 million people and generate $1.19 trillion in sales. Women-owned businesses have been diversifying into areas traditionally dominated by males such as construction (30% increase since 1997); transportation, communications and public utilities (28.1%); and agriculture (24.3%).

What Moms Do Online
Eight in ten mothers with Internet access say they save time by doing some of their chores online, and save two hours per week by doing so. More than one-half (54%) say the Internet helps them organize. Commonly used tools include e-mail alerts and reminders (67%), online calendars (37%) and online filing systems (32%).


Marketing to Youth
A recent survey shows that, on average, youth marketers feel it is proper to start advertising to children at age seven, which is more than two years before they believe young people are able to view advertising critically (9.1 years of age), or when they think young people are capable of separating fantasy from reality in media and advertising (9.3 years of age).


Going Online for Religious Reasons
About two-thirds (64%) of Internet users have done things online that relate to religious or spiritual beliefs. The chart below shows the activities and types of information they have accessed.


Challenges Facing Journalists
One-half of journalists at national media outlets (51%) and 46% in the local media believe journalism is going in the wrong direction. They say this is due to increased bottom line pressure "seriously hurting" the quality of news coverage. National media journalists say news reports are full of factual errors; this view increased from 30% in 1995 to 40% in 1999, and to 45% today. Journalists from national (60%) and local (51%) media outlets say the Internet has made journalism better, and give relatively high grades for the websites of national news organizations. On the downside, journalists think the Internet allows too much posting of links to unfiltered material. In addition, many in the national (42%) and local media (35%) say the Internet has intensified the deadline pressures they now face.

Healthcare Costs
A recent survey by Results for America, a division of the Civil Society Institute, showed that two-thirds of Americans support a health care "guarantee" similar to the Canadian or British systems. Also, 78% of Americans advocate government regulation of healthcare, similar to utilities such as gas and water. While 85% of the survey respondents have health insurance, the majority of them have seen either their coverage cut or their costs rise. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey shows that health care premiums have risen by double digits during 2004 for the fourth year in a row. So far this year, premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance increased 11.2%, which is about five times the rate of inflation (2.3%) and workers' earnings (2.2%). Since 2000, the cost of health insurance has risen 59%, while workers' wages only increased 12%.

Health Problems Among Mature Minorities
Among American adults age 50+, African Americans and Latinos are more likely to suffer from one or more chronic health conditions including asthma, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and anxiety/depression. See the chart below. These minorities are also more likely to be without health insurance; 20% of African Americans, 35% of Latinos, and 12% of Whites lack insurance.


Radio Frequency Identification
An April 2004 survey by BearingPoint Inc. reveals that IT executives in various industries - government, retail/wholesale, manufacturing, technology, financial services - feel that Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a revolutionary technology that will change inventory management. However, less than one-half say they have a "moderate understanding of RFID" and only 22% believe they have a "high" understanding. Seven in ten (70%) executives say their company is taking its first steps toward RFID implementation; 58% say they will be in a trial or test phase of RFID within the year.

Online Advertising
According to JupiterResearch, online advertising spending will reach $8.4 billion this year and should hit $13.8 billion by 2007, when it will reach parity with magazine advertising expenditures. Search-focused advertising revenue jumped from $1.4 billion in 2002 to $3 billion this year, and may reach $5.5 billion by 2009. Some 28% of companies tailor their web sites to individual visitors. This tactic is used more by mixed-focus companies (38%) than by business-to-business firms (26%) and consumer companies (22%). Mixed-focus companies are those that market to both consumers and businesses.

US Oil Consumption
Between 2002 and 2003, oil consumption rose from 19.8 million barrels per day to 20.0 million. Consumption is expected to average 20.4 million for 2004 according to the US Energy Information Administration. Almost one-half (45%) of US oil consumption is in the form of motor gasoline, while 8% is jet fuel, and 4% is residential fuel oil. Over 62% is imported. The top supplier countries are Canada (2.1 million barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (1.8 million), Mexico (1.6 million) and Venezuela (1.4 million). Most oil reserves within the US are located in Texas (24%), Alaska (22%), Louisiana (20%) and California (19%). According to Oil and Gas Journal, US reserves were estimated to be 22.7 billion barrels at the beginning of 2004. Proven reserves have dropped 20% since 1990.

Bullets

  • Sexually active Americans have intercourse an average of 118 times per year; 64% say they are satisfied with their sex lives.

  • The wealthiest 10% of Americans have an annual average household income of $360,000, a net worth of almost $3 million, and control 70% of the nation’s private wealth.

  • The number of unemployed college graduates has doubled since 2001 and the number of unemployed high school dropouts rose 60%.

  • About one-half of online mothers with children under age 18 have cracker and/or bread crumbs stuck in their computer keyboards. Some 24% have lint, 15% spilled coffee, and 9% a piece of a child’s toy.

  • According to the National Education Association, the number of male public schoolteachers is at a 40-year low. After 20 years of declining, the number is now 21% of the country’s 3 million teachers. For elementary schools, the proportion has fallen to 9% from 18% in 1981. In secondary education, men make up 35%, down from 50% in 1986. States with the highest teacher salaries typically have the highest proportion of male teachers.

  • Teachers of color make up 16% of public school educators. However, 42% of schools have no Black, Hispanic or Asian faculty members.

  • More than one-third of Americans (37%) say that a college education is necessary for being successful, up from 31% in 2000. In African Americans, the percentage went from 35% to 53%; for Hispanics, it rose from 41% to 53%.

  • Most Americans (91%) say that the price of college education should not be allowed to prevent. qualified and motivated students from going to school, down from 93% in 2000. Three-quarters (76%) say students have to borrow too much money to pay for college, down from 80% in 2000.

  • Americans who stay in hotels say they do things there they don’t do at home including throwing towels on the floor (25%), using more towels than necessary (24%), eating in bed (19%), leaving the TV on when not in the room (13%).

  • In the 1960s, the minimum wage was about 50% of average hourly earnings. This decreased to 44% in 1970s and today equals 33%, its lowest level in more than 50 years. At the current $5.15 hourly wage, a full-time worker earns annual income that is $8,138 less than the poverty level for a family of four.

  • More than nine in ten women (94%) say that being respected is key to making them feel inspired about work.

  • Some 49% of men believe full-figured women are sexy, and 42% say they are more attracted to full-figured women than thinner ones.

  • Fiction books (mostly thrillers) accounted for 72% of weekly bestsellers in 2003, up from 59% in 1998.

  • The number of US households that were victims of violent crimes dropped to 3.2% in 2002 from 7.0% in 1994. Property crime also decreased from 21.5% to 12.5% of households. 

  • The favorite TV sitcoms during the past 30 years are “M*A*S*H” (27%), “Friends (19%), “The Simpsons” (16%), “Seinfeld” (16%), “All in the Family” (8%) and “Frasier” (8%).

  • About one in five (18%) US workers have been laid off at some point since 2001. Some 71% of these have found new employment, but one-half of them were at a lower salary. 

  • More than one-third (36%) of consumers have been enrolled in a credit card rewards program for at least five years, but almost one-half have never redeemed points for a reward.

  • Doctors who – at some point in their lives – played videogames more than three hours per week make 37% fewer errors when performing laparoscopic surgery. They also complete this type of surgery 27% more quickly.

  • About one-quarter (27%) of adults have received mental health treatment in the past two years, while more than one-third (37%) of those who need treatment are not getting it. Four in ten say their parents would have benefited from therapy.

  • More than one-half (56.3%) of online Americans use search engines at least once per day, and 21.2% use them four or more times in a day.

  • One out of every 140 US residents was incarcerated at the middle of 2003. This includes 12% of all Black males in their 20s, plus 3.7% of Hispanic males and 1.6% of White males in that same age group.

  • In 2002, people living below the federal poverty level (32.9%) were more likely than those with incomes at or above this level (22.2%) to be current smokers. This gap in smoking prevalence increased from 8.7 points in 1983 to 10.7 points in 2002.

  • The US spends 13.7% of its gross national product on healthcare, twice the percentage spent by other countries such as the U.K. (6%) and Japan (7%).

  • In 2003, 14.5% of households did not fill at least one drug prescription they received, up from 12.3% in 2002.

  • A majority of Americans (67%) say they are willing to pay a premium for foods produced without chemicals. One-half (51%) are willing to pay a premium for food produced with humane treatment of animals.

  • Three billion pizzas (an average of 46 slices per person) are sold in the US each year.

  • Almost one-half (44%) of 19-29-year-olds have been without health insurance in the past year, compared to 27% of people age 19-64.

  • Most adults (94%) believe that at least some major league baseball players take steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. Eight in ten (84%) – including 90% of baseball fans – believe all players should be tested for drugs, and those testing positive should be punished.

  • The top 100 advertisers spent $6.2 billion on business-to-business ads in 2003, up 17% from 2002.

  • Annual consumer spending for online content jumped 18.8% to reach $1.6 billion in 2003. The top categories are personals/dating, business/investment and entertainment/lifestyles.

  • Of the 9,723 snack slots in vending machines surveyed that were located in 251 schools, only 26 contained fruits or vegetables.

  • New cancer drugs introduced between 1975 and 1995 have increased the life expectancy of people diagnosed with cancer to 10.6 years from 9.6 years. These drugs account for about two-thirds of the 80 drugs currently in use.

  • Between 1970 and 2002, the average age of hospital inpatients increased from 40.7 years to 52.1 years. The proportion of patients age 65 or older grew from 20% to 38%; patients younger than 15 dropped from 13% to 8%; those age 15-45 fell from 43% to 32%; and patients age 45-64 remained steady.

  • The proportion of businesses offering flexible hours to their employees dropped from 64% to 55% between 2002 and 2003.

  • The Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that the number of civil trials in our nation’s 75 largest counties dropped by 47% between 1992 and 2001. Plaintiffs won about one-half of the time, but the average overall damages award shrank from $65,000 in 1992 to $37,000 in 2001.

  • Twenty-seven percent of instant messaging users said they use the medium to communicate with others at work, up from 16% last year.

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