Spending on Eating Out Falls 10%

The average household spent $2,236 on food from restaurants and carry-outs in 2013—10 percent less than in 2007, after adjusting for inflation. Some age groups cut their spending more than others, however, and two age groups boosted their spending during those years...

Average household spending on eating out in 2013 (and % change, 2007 to 2013; in 2013$)
Under 25: $1,922 (+9%)
25 to 34: $2,317 (-14%)
35 to 44: $2,819 (-7%)
45 to 54: $2,674 (-7%)
55 to 64: $2,044 (-19%)
65-plus: $1,578 (+3%)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey

Boomers: 35% of Households

The Baby-Boom is no longer the largest generation. Millennials surpassed Boomers in size in 2011, and the gap between them is growing each year. In 2013, there were 78 million Millennials (aged 19 to 36) and 76 million Boomers (aged 49 to 67). But according to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, Boomers still head the largest share of households and will for years to come...

Number (and %) of households by generation
Millennials: 30 million (25%)
Generation X: 27 million (22%)
Baby Boomers: 43 million (35%)
Older Americans:  23 million (18%)

Who Buys Brand-Name Products?

Less informed consumers buy brand-name products when a less expensive equivalent is available, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research study. NBER researchers came to this conclusion after analyzing a Nielsen Homescan database of 77 million shopping trips, zeroing in on who buys store-brand versus brand-name pain relievers.

Knowledgeable shoppers are more likely to buy store-brands. Pharmacists and physicians, the most knowledgeable shoppers in this instance, are most likely to buy store-brand pain relievers, choosing them over the branded equivalent 91 percent of the time. In comparison, the average consumer chooses the store-brand just 74 percent of the time. By field of study, college graduates with science degrees are more likely than other college graduates to buy store-brand pain relievers.

Extending their analysis to the purchase of cooking ingredients, the NBER researchers find that chefs—the most knowledgeable cooking supply shoppers—choose store-brand pantry staples 80 percent of the time while the average consumer chooses store brands only 60 percent of the time. Conclusion: the less consumers know, the more likely they are to pay the premium for a brand-name product.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research, Do Pharmacists Buy Bayer? Informed Shoppers and the Brand Premium

59,631 Miracle Births

Of the 4 million babies born in the United States in 2011, a substantial 59,631 could be considered miracle births—they were born through assisted reproductive technology, meaning either eggs or embryos were handled in a laboratory. These births do not include those in which only sperm are handled or a woman takes drugs to stimulate egg production.

The babies born through assisted reproductive technology account for 1.5 percent of all births, 19 percent of twin births, and 32 percent of triplet or higher births. In the state with the largest share of births due to assisted reproductive technology (Massachusetts), 4.5 percent of all births, 40 percent of twin births, and 63 percent of triplet-plus births are the result of this technology.

Source: CDC, Assisted Reproductive Technology Surveillance—United States, 2011

College Graduation Rates

Percent of full-time students attending four-year colleges in pursuit of a bachelor's degree who complete their degree in...

4 years: 38%
6 years: 59%
8 years: 61%

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Graduation Rates for Selected Cohorts, 2005-10; and Student Financial Aid in Postsecondary Institutions, Academic Year 2012: First Look (Provisional Data NCES 2014

Voting Gaps in the 2014 Congressional Election

53% of voters under age 40 reported voting for the Democratic candidate.
56% of voters aged 65 or older reported voting for the Republican candidate.

72% of non-White voters reported voting for the Democratic candidate.
55% of White voters reported voting for the Republican candidate.

65% of voters without a religious affiliation reported voting for the Democratic candidate.
80% of White evangelical Protestants reported voting for the Republican candidate.

Source: Public Religion Research Institute, Vote Preferences and Outcome of the Midterm Election: The 2014 Vote

Only 14% Retire as Planned

How many people retire at the age they had planned? An analysis of the University of Michigan's Health and Retirement Study (HRS) has the answer. The HRS is a longitudinal survey of Americans aged 50 or older, allowing researchers to track individuals over time. The Employee Benefit Research Institute used the HRS data to compare the expected and actual retirement age of individual workers. The findings were surprising. 

"Before age 62, actual retirement is higher than expected retirement," says EBRI researcher Sudipto Banerjee. But by age 65 the opposite is the case. "Eighty-one percent of workers expected to retire before age 65, but only 64.1 percent actually did so," Banerjee says. Overall, 38 percent of older workers retired before the age they had planned and a larger 48 percent retired after the age they had planned. Only 14 percent retired as planned. 

Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute, The Gap Between Expected and Actual Retirement: Evidence from Longitudinal Data, Notes, November 2014

Toy Story

Percent who plan on purchasing toys as gifts this holiday season...

Parents: 82%
Pet owners: 52%

Source: Harris Interactive, Anticipated Holiday Spending Remains Consistent Compared to Last Year

Women Say "No Thanks" to Marrying Again

Many of the nation's divorced or widowed singles say they don't want to marry again...

Percent of divorced/widowed who do not want to marry again
Men: 30%
Women: 54%

Source: Pew Research Center, Four in Ten Couples Are Saying "I Do," Again

The Ultimate Selfie: Your Health

Americans are ready to take their healthcare to the next level—self monitoring. A Harris Interactive survey finds nearly half of the public to be very or extremely interested in monitoring their blood pressure (48 percent), heartbeat (47 percent), or physical activity (43 percent) via smartphone or tablet. Young adults are especially interested in these services. Here are the percentages who are very or extremely interested in tracking their physical activity (such as steps and sleep) via smartphone or tablet by generation...

Very-extremely interested in tracking physical activity 

Millennials: 57%

Gen Xers: 45%

Boomers: 35%

Matures: 25%

Source: Harris Interactive, Americans May Be Ready for a Brave New World of Healthcare

Computer Ownership, 2013

Nearly nine out of ten Americans live in a household with a computer: 88 percent of the population has a computer at home—83 percent have a desktop or laptop computer and 71 percent own what the Census Bureau calls a "handheld computer," such as a smartphone.

For some, a handheld device is their only computer. Here is the percentage of households by age of householder that have only a handheld computer...

Aged 15 to 34: 9.5%
Aged 35 to 44: 5.8%
Aged 45 to 64: 3.9%
Aged 65-plus: 2.5%

Source: Census Bureau, Computer and Internet Access in the United States: 2013

Magnets for Millennials

Young adults are packing their bags and moving to the city. The nation's most urban counties gained more than 1 million 25-to-34-year-olds between 2008-10 and 2011-13, according to a Demo Memo analysis of the American Community Survey. This numerical gain is nearly double the increase in the number of 25-to-34-year-olds in all other counties combined.

There's more: The most urban counties, with a rank of 1 on the Rural-Urban Continuum (in metro areas with a population of 1 million or more), also saw the largest percentage increase in 25-to-34-year-olds between 2008-10 and 2011-13—a 4.5 percent rise. In the most rural counties, with a rank of 9 on the Rural-Urban Continuum, the number of 25-to-34-year-olds fell 4.8 percent during the time period.

Veteran Demographics

The number of veterans in the U.S. is shrinking. The 19.6 million veterans of 2013 were well below the 26.4 million of 2000, according to the Census Bureau. The veteran share of the adult population fell from 12.7 to 8.1 percent during those years.

Most veterans are men (92 percent), and nearly half (47 percent) are aged 65 or older. Most men aged 75 or older are veterans, but the share drops to 39 percent among men aged 65 to 74 and declines in each younger age group...

Percent of men who are veterans
Aged 18 to 34: 4%
Aged 35 to 54: 10%
Aged 55 to 64: 19%
Aged 65 to 74: 39%
Aged 75-plus: 57%

The largest share of veterans served during the Vietnam War era (36 percent), followed by the Gulf War (27 percent). Another 24 percent served during peacetime. Eleven percent of veterans served during the Korean War, and just 7 percent are World War II vets. These percentages sum to more than 100 because some veterans served in more than one era.

Only 42 percent of veterans are enrolled in the VA's health benefits program, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service (PDF). Although this figure has been rising, it remains a minority of veterans because of Congressional limits on VA funding. Veterans enrolling since 2003 and without a service disability can access benefits only if their income or net worth is below a certain threshold.

Texting Is Number-One Form of Communication

Texting is the dominant form of communication among Americans, according to a Gallup survey. Thirty-nine percent of Americans say they texted "a lot" yesterday—slightly larger than the 38 percent who talked a lot on a cell phone and the 37 percent who sent or read emails a lot. (Only 9 percent say they used a landline phone a lot yesterday.) Of course the 1 or 2 percentage-point difference between these three most common modes of communication are statistically insignificant, but a look at the numbers by age confirms that texting will increasingly dominate communication in the years ahead.

More than two-thirds of young adults (aged 18 to 29) say they texted a lot yesterday, far above the 50 percent who talked a lot on a cell phone or the 47 percent who sent/received emails a lot. Among people aged 30 to 49 as well, texting surpasses cell phone calls (41 percent) or emailing (44 percent). Here are the percentages who say they texted a lot yesterday by age...

Aged 18 to 29: 68%
Aged 30 to 49: 47%
Aged 50 to 64: 26%
Aged 65-plus: 8%

Source: Gallup, The New Era of Communication among Americans

A Gun in the House

Nearly two out of three Americans believe that "having a gun in the house makes it a safer place to be," according to a Gallup survey. The percentage who feel this way is at a record high of 63 percent, up from just 35 percent in 2000. By region, this is the percentage with a gun in their house...

Northeast: 31%
Midwest: 44%
South: 51%
West: 39%

Source: Gallup, More than Six in 10 Americans Say Guns Make Homes Safer

Surviving to Age 80

Most Americans can expect to live well into old age. It wasn't always this way. In 1901, only 13.5 percent of newborns could expect to live to age 80 based on age-specific mortality rates of that year. By 1950, the chance of a newborn living to age 80 had climbed to 29.3 percent. In 2000, the probability exceeded 50 percent for the first time. By 2010, the 57.2 percent majority of newborns could expect to live to age 80. But the chance of living to age 80 differs greatly by sex, race and Hispanic origin...

Percentage surviving to age 80 based on 2010 mortality rates
71.2% of Hispanic females
64.0% of non-Hispanic White females
57.4% of Hispanic males
57.2% of total people
55.0% of Black females
50.9% of non-Hispanic White males
38.3% of Black males

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Mortality Data, United States Life Tables 2010

Food Spending: Fact vs. Fantasy

Americans spend more at restaurants than they think they do. We know this because the Consumer Expenditure Survey asks respondents how much they usually spend at restaurants per week, and it also asks them to keep a daily diary of their expenditures. The results are not the same. The more precise diary method consistently shows restaurant spending to be 16 to 22 percent greater than the guesstimate.

The opposite happens with grocery shopping. When asked how much they usually spend on groceries per week, households overreport their spending by about 21 percent in comparison with diary data on grocery purchases. That's because Americans greatly underestimate how much they spend on nonfood items, like paper towels, when shopping for groceries.

Many Boomers Plan to Move in Retirement

More than one-third of Boomers plan to move when they retire. A survey of Americans aged 50 to 69 found a substantial 37 percent saying they intend to move. Among those who plan to move, 54 percent want to downsize—defined as moving to a smaller or less expensive home. This is the next house Boomer movers say they are looking for...

56% want to buy a single family home
22% want to rent an apartment in a multifamily building
12% want to rent a single family home
10% want to buy an apartment in a multifamily building

Source: The Demand Institute, Baby Boomers & Their Homes: On Their Own Terms

Poverty Is Not Permanent

There's a lot of handwringing about the nation's poor, and well there should be. But keep this in mind as the debate rages: poverty is not permanent. A Census Bureau study of poverty from 2009 through 2012 shows millions escaping poverty every year. Of the 35 million poor counted by the Census Bureau's Panel Study of Income Dynamics in 2009, a substantial 42 percent were not poor in 2012.

Of course, making a living wage is not necessarily permanent either. Among the 249 million Americans who were not poor in 2009, an unfortunate 6 percent had fallen into poverty by 2012. During the time period, which was marked by the struggle to recover from the Great Recession, the number of people sinking into poverty surpassed the number escaping it—15.7 million fell in and 14.8 million climbed out.

Source: Census Bureau, Dynamics of Economic Well-Being: Poverty 2009-2012