Tuesday, January 23, 2007

What the World Thinks

Does the United States have a mainly positive
or negative influence in the world?

Percent answering "positive"...
Americans: 57 percent
Everyone else: 32 percent

Source: BBC survey of 26,381 people in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United States, WorldPublicOpinion.org

Monday, January 22, 2007

The Oldest Congress Ever

How do the demographics of Congress compare with those of the average American? This Congressional Research Service report (pdf) can tell you. It examines the age, occupations, education, religion, sex, race, Hispanic origin, nativity status, and military service of House and Senate members.

The Senate has never been older, with an average age of 60. House members are aged 55, on average, which also may be a record high (data on the age of House members has been collected only since 1907). The 109th Congress has a record number of women (85), blacks (43), and Hispanics (30), but the minority and female share is still far from representative of the U.S. population as a whole. There are 218 lawyers in Congress, as well as 13 medical doctors, 6 ministers, 2 FBI agents, and one television talk show host. Ten members of Congress were born outside the United States. This Congress has 139 veterans, 13 fewer than in the 108th Congress.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Evolution at Work

The 51 percent majority of Americans believe in evolution. A smaller 42 percent adhere to the notion of creationism, according to the Pew Research Center. In the years ahead, belief in evolution should strengthen as better educated younger generations replace older, less educated adults. Here is a look at who believes in evolution by age:

aged 18 to 25: 63%
aged 26 to 40: 57%
aged 41 to 60: 47%
aged 61 or older: 42%

Source: Pew Research Center

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Bet You Didn't Know

Percentage of 18-to-25-year-olds who think
their generation is unique: 68.

Source: Pew Research Center