Posted on: Sunday, September 14, 2008
Americans paying a steep price for obesity
Compiled by John MacIntyre
Estimated annual price tag for the United States caused by Americans' expanding waistlines, according to Gold's Gym-sponsored research titled "Fat-O-Nomics": $122.9 billion
Estimated amount that obese Americans lose annually out of their own pockets (based on the median U.S. salary of $48,451): $10,000
Source: Gold's Gym.
BEST TIPPERS
Rank of Philadelphians as the most generous tippers in the nation, according to a Zagat survey: 1
Average tip — as a percentage of the bill — left by those from the City of Brotherly Love: 19.6
Countrywide average: 19
Source: Zagat.
PAID PARENTAL LEAVE
Number of high-income countries that offer no paid parental leave, according to a Center for Economic and Policy Research report: 2 (United States and Australia)
In the United States, total guaranteed (nontransferable) weeks of unpaid leave for two-parent family under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): 24 weeks (12 for mother; 12 for father)
In terms of total guaranteed time off from work, rank of the U.S. out of 21 high-income countries: 20
Paid leave offered to mother or father in Sweden: 78 weeks
Source: Council on Contemporary Families.
HIRING DIFFICULTIES
Percentage of hiring managers who said they are willing to negotiate compensation for top candidates, according to a survey by www.CareerBuilder.com: 65
Percentage of hiring managers who said Generation Y employees (born between 1979 and 1999) are the most difficult to recruit, perhaps because of high expectations about pay, career advancement, flexible schedules and overall work environment: 56
Source: CareerBuilder.com.
LESSONS IN DEBT
Percentage of college students who say they are educated about money management and understand the consequences of debt, according to a poll for Western Union Payment Services conducted by Javelin Research: 84
Percentage who still say they wish they had a plan to help decrease their debt: 50
Source: Western Union Payment Services.
GLOOMY OUTLOOK
Percentage of finance and accounting professionals who think the U.S. is currently experiencing a recession, according to a poll by Ajilon Finance for the Institute of Management Accountants: 65
Percentage who feel the economic uncertainty is making their jobs more complex: 54
Source: Ajilon Office.
STUDYING ABROAD
Rank of the U.S. with 590,200 international students in 2007, Great Britain with 318,400 and Germany with 246,000 on the list of worldwide destinations for foreign students, according to the 2008 edition of the survey "Wissenschaft — weltoffen," co-edited by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD): 1, 2, 3
Source: German Embassy.
WHO ARE THE PLAYERS?
Percentage of U.S. gamers who are women, according to a report published by industry research firm IBISWorld on the video gaming industry: 38
Average age of video game players (Note: not the teenage boys of the past): 35
Source: IBISWorld.
DESIRE FOR ORGANIC
Percentage of U.S. adults who purchase natural and/or organic foods, according to the Whole Foods Market consumer survey findings: 74
Percentage of U.S. adults who indicated that they don't want to compromise on the quality of the food they buy — even with today's rising food prices: 79
Source: Whole Foods Market.
GOING HOME TO A PET
Percentage of U.S. workers who own pets, according to a national survey of working adults commissioned by Workplace Options: 60
Percentage of workers who are currently stressed by their job and for whom convenience services can help reduce worker anxiety over the competing daily demands of work and family: 72
Source: Workplace Options.
IDLE THOUGHT
"The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it."
— John Ruskin
Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre at bwr.eastlink.ca.
