Homeownership rate of householders aged 30 to 34, first quarter 2022: 49.0%
Thursday, April 28, 2022
First-Time Homebuyer Watch: 1st Quarter 2022
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Pessimism about Climate Change
Democrats and Republicans are in disagreement about most issues. Take climate change, for example. Only 11 percent of Republicans think "dealing with climate change should be a top priority for the president and Congress to address this year," according to a Pew Research Center survey. Among Democrats, fully 65 percent think climate change should be a top priority. Similarly, just 17 percent of Republicans say "human activity, such as the burning of fossil fuels, contributes a great deal to global climate change" versus 71 percent of Democrats.
But there's one climate issue on which the majority of Democrats and Republicans agree. Both are pessimistic that the world's nations will be able to work together to mitigate the worst consequences of climate change.
Here's the question: "How likely is it countries around the world, including the U.S., will collectively do enough to avoid the worst impacts of climate change?" The 51 percent majority of Democrats and the 56 percent majority of Republicans agree such collective action "will not happen."
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
The Covid Toll: 2021 Worse than 2020
The Covid death toll was greater in 2021 than in 2020 despite the roll-out of vaccines. Why? In part, because pandemic mitigation efforts became politicized, creating an anti-vax movement whose consequences can be seen in the numbers.
Thursday, April 21, 2022
More than 2 Million Identify as Transgender on Survey
The Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey does more than track the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on American households. In an effort to determine whether some groups have been impacted by the pandemic more than others, the survey asks a nationally representative sample of the public about gender identity and sexual orientation.
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Who Worries about Illegal Immigration?
A growing share of Americans is "not at all" worried about illegal immigration, according to a recent Gallup survey. In fact, the "not at all" worried contingent has never been larger, reaching 23 percent in 2022. This is more than double the share who felt this way in 2006, Gallup reports.
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
The Marriage Market at Age 35
Increasingly, a bachelor's degree is a prerequisite for marriage. The latest data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY) provides further evidence of this fact. The NLSY has been tracking a nationally representative sample of men and women born during the years 1980 through 1984. Respondents were aged 12 to 17 the first time they were interviewed in 1997. In the latest (19th!) survey, fielded in 2019–20, respondents were aged 34 to 40.
At age 25, there were few differences in marital status by educational attainment among the NLSY respondents, with just 27 percent of them married. By age 35, big differences by educational attainment had emerged. Overall, 53 percent of the NLSY respondents were married at age 35. But the married share ranged from a low of 37 percent among the high school dropouts to a high of 65 percent among those with a bachelor's degree or more education.
Married | Cohabiting | Single | |
---|---|---|---|
Total people | 53% | 17 | 31 |
Less than high school diploma | 37% | 25 | 38 |
High school grad, no college | 43% | 23 | 34 |
Some college/associate's degree | 50% | 16 | 34 |
Bachelor's degree or more | 65% | 11 | 24 |
What accounts for these differences in marital status by educational attainment? The Marriage Market. The better educated are more likely to be married because their earnings are higher and their jobs more secure, making them more attractive marriage partners.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Market Experience, Education, Partner Status, and Health for Those Born 1980–1984
Thursday, April 14, 2022
Boomer Generation Shrinks by More than 1 Million
Between 2020 and 2021, the Baby Boom generation lost more than 1 million members, according to the Census Bureau's 2021 population estimates. Born from 1946 through 1964, Boomers numbered 71.4 million on July 1, 2020 and just 70.2 million on July 1, 2021—a loss of 1.1 million. Of course the Baby-Boom generation has been shrinking for years as it ages. The coronavirus pandemic pushed the Boomer losses above 1 million.
Boomers aren't alone in their decline. The number of Gen Xers fell by 245,000 between 2020 and 2021. Even the Millennial generation experienced its first-ever decline, falling by 80,000. The number of older Americans, born before 1945, experienced the biggest loss—a decline of 1.8 million.
Size of generations in 2021 (and % of total population)
331,894,000 (100%): Total population
47,412,000 (14%): Younger Americans (aged 0 to 11)
64,940,000 (20%): Generation Z (aged 12 to 26)
80,202,000 (24%): Millennial generation (aged 27 to 44)
49,088,000 (15%): Generation X (aged 45 to 56)
70,227,000 (21%): Baby Boom generation (aged 57 to 75)
20,024,000 ( 6%): Older Americans (aged 76-plus)
Note: Younger Americans were born in 2010 or later; Generation Z was born from 1995 through 2009; the Millennial generation was born from 1977 through 1994; Generation X was born from 1965 through 1976; the Baby-Boom generation was born from 1946 through 1964; Older Americans were born in 1945 or earlier.
Source: Census Bureau, National Population by Characteristics: 2020–2021
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
382 Days with 1,000+ Covid Deaths
Twenty-five U.S. residents died of Covid-19 on April 10, 2022—the most recent data available from the CDC. This is the smallest daily death toll in more than two years—since March 16, 2020. There's a caveat here: April 10 was a Sunday, and fewer deaths are reported on weekends. But let's take our victories where we can.
It's been a rough two years. A cumulative 982,809 U.S. residents have died of Covid-19 through April 10, 2022. Here are the stats on the daily count of deaths...
- February 1, 2022: 4,182 deaths
- January 13, 2021, 4,072 deaths.
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Big Decline in the Correctional Population
The "correctional population" is shrinking—a lot. Before we dive into the numbers, first a definition. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics' (BJS), the correctional population is...
"the number of adults living in the community while supervised on probation or parole and adults under the jurisdiction of state or federal prisons or in the custody of local jails."
In other words, it's the whole shebang of people who got into trouble and are still paying their dues.
Between 2010 and 2020, the correctional population shrank by a substantial 22 percent, according to the BJS. Nearly half of that decline occurred in just one year—in 2020, when the total correctional population fell by 10.6 percent.
Thursday, April 07, 2022
Back to Normal? Not Really
With Omicron fading in the United States, are Americans back to normal? Not really, according to a KFF survey. Here's how the public responded when asked on March 15-22, "How much have you personally returned to activities that you engaged in before the pandemic?"
- Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be restricting their activities (75 and 62 percent, respectively) than non-Hispanic whites (53 percent).
- Those with household incomes below $40,000 are more likely to be restricting their activities (65 percent) than those with household incomes of $90,000 or more (54 percent).
- Democrats are more likely to be restricting their activities (73 percent) than Republicans (45 percent).
- The vaccinated are more likely (63 percent) to be restricting their activities than the unvaccinated (43 percent).
Wednesday, April 06, 2022
31% Drop in Immigrants in 2020
707,362: that's the number of legal immigrants (persons granted lawful permanent resident status) who came to the United States in fiscal year 2020, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, that number is 31 percent less than the 1,031,765 legal immigrants of 2019. It is also the smallest number of immigrants admitted to the United States since 2003, when legal immigration plummeted in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The number of immigrants fell by at least 50 percent between 2019 and 2020 in 18 countries, including Cuba and Iraq.
The biggest numerical declines between 2019 and 2020 were experienced by some of the countries that send us the most immigrants: Mexico (-56,000), China (-21,000), Dominican Republic (-20,000), Philippines (-20,000), and India (-8,000).
The immigrant decline has contributed to labor shortages in the United States. But things may be turning around, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. After falling to a quarterly low of 79,000 in mid-2020, Pew reports that the volume of green cards issued in the final quarter of fiscal year 2021 (July-September) climbed to 282,000, higher than in any quarter since April-June 2017.
Tuesday, April 05, 2022
Worried about Wrinkles, Gray Hair? Just Wait
As one gets older, the list of potential health and beauty complaints grows. AARP has done a yeoman's job of documenting those complaints, then surveying older Americans to find out how concerned they are about each one. There are lots of complaints. This is just a partial list...
Gray hair, wrinkles, yellowing teeth, hunched back, age spots, jowls/double chin, gastrointestinal issues, trouble sleeping, snoring, constipation, joint pain, tinnitus, hearing loss, shortness of breath, incontinence, waking from sleep to go to the bathroom, loss of teeth, loss of mobility, Alzheimer's/dementia, and perhaps worst of all—losing a sense of humor.
The good news is this: the older you get, the less you worry about these things. In fact, worries about health and beauty seem to peak in what could be called middle age. People in their fifties worry more about aging than do those in their sixties. People in their sixties worry more than those in their seventies. And so it goes. Maybe. The survey did not include respondents aged 80 or older.
Want some examples of how worries fade away with age? Well, let's have a look at those wrinkles. Nearly one in four people in their fifties (24 percent) say they are very/extremely concerned about wrinkles. Among people in their sixties, only 14 percent are very/extremely concerned about wrinkles. The worried share drops to just 9 percent among the oldest people surveyed—those aged 70 to 79.
The same pattern occurs on a whole range of health and beauty issues, including some of the most serious such as Alzheimer's/dementia. A substantial 27 percent of people aged 50 to 59 are very/extremely concerned about getting dementia. Among 60-to-69-year-olds, the figure is 19 percent, and it drops to just 16 percent among people in their seventies.
Concerns about losing one's sense of humor also wither with age. Among fiftysomethings, 18 percent are very/extremely concerned about losing their sense of humor, with the majority of fiftysomethings having at least some concern. In contrast, among people aged 70 to 79, only 6 percent are very/extremely concerned about losing their sense of humor. The 60 percent majority of the oldest respondents are "not at all" concerned about losing their funny bone.
Source: AARP, Health Worries Lessen with Age?