Fewer State and Local Government Workers

The number of full-time workers employed by state and local governments fell by 203,321 between 2009 and 2010, according to the Census Bureau.

Source: Census Bureau, Annual Survey of Public Employment and Payroll: 2010

Most Support Birth Control Coverage

Percent who support the new federal requirement that private health insurance plans cover the full cost of birth control and other preventive services for their female patients, by age...

Total: 66%
18-29: 76%
30-49: 70%
50-64: 61%
65-plus: 51%

Source: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll--August 2011

Three Housing Markets

With millions of Americans underwater on their mortgage, the nation's housing market has been split into three distinct segments: homeowners with mortgages or loans on their property--many of them underwater, renters, and homeowners who own their home free and clear.

According to the 2010 census, the 45 percent plurality of the nation's 117 million households are homeowners with a mortgage or loan on their property. Another 35 percent are renters, and 20 percent are homeowners who own their home free and clear. These segments vary in size by state.

Homeowners with mortgages In eight states, more than half of households are homeowners with mortgages or loans on their home. Utah ranks number one in this category, with 54 percent of the state's households headed by homeowners with a mortgage. The other states in which the majority of households are homeowners with mortgages are Maryland, Minnesota, Delaware, New Hampshire, Colorado, Indiana, and Virginia. The state with the smallest percentage of encumbered households is New York, at 36 percent.

Renters New York tops the list in the percentage of households that rent. The 47 percent plurality of households in New York are renters--most of them in the New York metropolitan area. The only other states in which renters outnumber the other two categories (homeowners with and homeowners without a mortgage) are California (44 percent) and Hawaii (42 percent). West Virginia has the fewest renter households, at 27 percent.

Homeowners free and clear West Virginia is the state with the largest percentage of homeowners who own their home free and clear, at 35 percent. Other states in which at least one in four households are homeowners without mortgages are: Mississippi, North Dakota, Louisiana, South Dakota, Montana, Arkansas, New Mexico, Alabama, and Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Iowa. Not exactly the nation's hot spots.

Here is the distribution of households by homeownership and mortgage status for all 50 states and the District of Columbia...

	with	no
	mort	mort	rent
U.S. total	45.4	19.7	34.9
Alabama	44.2	25.5	30.3
Alaska	43.4	19.7	36.9
Arizona	47.6	18.4	34.0
Arkansas	40.9	26.0	33.0
California	43.5	12.5	44.1
Colorado	50.9	14.6	34.5
Connecticut	49.7	17.8	32.5
Delaware	51.7	20.3	27.9
DC	33.8	8.2	58.0
Florida	45.1	22.2	32.6
Georgia	48.9	16.8	34.3
Hawaii	40.8	16.9	42.3
Idaho	49.5	20.4	30.1
Illinois	48.3	19.1	32.5
Indiana	50.3	19.5	30.1
Iowa	47.0	25.1	27.9
Kansas	45.2	22.5	32.2
Kentucky	44.0	24.7	31.3
Louisiana	39.8	27.5	32.8
Maine	47.4	23.9	28.7
Maryland	53.2	14.3	32.5
Massachusetts	46.2	16.1	37.7
Michigan	49.6	22.5	27.9
Minnesota	53.2	19.9	27.0
Mississippi	40.7	28.9	30.4
Missouri	47.1	21.7	31.2
Montana	41.8	26.2	32.0
Nebraska	44.6	22.6	32.8
Nevada	46.2	12.6	41.2
New Hamp	51.4	19.5	29.0
New Jersey	47.7	17.7	34.6
New Mexico	42.7	25.8	31.5
New York	35.7	17.6	46.7
N. Carolina	46.5	20.2	33.3
North Dakota	37.3	28.1	34.6
Ohio	47.3	20.3	32.4
Oklahoma	41.9	25.4	32.8
Oregon	44.6	17.5	37.8
Pennsylvania	45.2	24.4	30.4
Rhode Island	44.8	15.9	39.3
S. Carolina	45.8	23.5	30.7
South Dakota	41.5	26.6	31.9
Tennessee	44.9	23.3	31.8
Texas	41.8	21.9	36.3
Utah	53.8	16.7	29.6
Vermont	48.2	22.5	29.3
Virginia	50.2	17.0	32.8
Washington	47.5	16.4	36.1
West Virginia	38.4	35.0	26.6
Wisconsin	47.5	20.6	31.9
Wyoming	44.0	25.3	30.8

Source: 2010 Census

American Dream: College

Percentage of parents who want their children to get a college degree: 91%.

Source: Census Bureau, A Child's Day: 2009 (Selected Indicators of Child Well-Being)

The Underground Economy

The underground--or informal--economy, once thought to be a relic of the third world, may be growing in the first world thanks to globalization, according to a report by the Urban Institute.

The "informal" economy is defined as economic activity that operates outside the tax and regulatory systems. It includes black market and illegal activity as well as legal work for which income is not reported. How many people do you know who have a little business on the side? That's the informal economy.

In the United States, the informal economy may generate 5 to 10 percent of the GDP, notes the Urban Institute report. Some academics estimate that 11 to 20 percent of American workers operate at least partly in the informal economy--a proportion that has been growing along with the immigrant population.

Cell Phones and the Internet

Eighty-three percent of Americans aged 18 or older own a cell phone, according to Pew Internet & American Life Project. How they use their phone varies greatly by age, in part because smartphone ownership varies by age. Here is the percentage of all cell phone owners who access the Internet using their phone:

18-29: 64%
30-49: 54%
50-64: 26%
65-plus: 10%

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, Americans and their Cell Phones

More Interracial Marriage among Young

Percent of marriages that are interracial or Hispanic/non-Hispanic, by age of currently married women in their first marriage...

under 25: 13%
25 to 34: 11%
35 to 44: 10%
45 to 54: 7%
55 or older: 4%

Source: Census Bureau, Number, Timing, and Duration of Marriages and Divorces: 2009

Air Conditioning by Region

Fully 87 percent of homes in the United States are now equipped with air conditioning--either central air or window units. Here is the percentage of households with air conditioning by region in 1980 and 2009:

	2009	1980
Northeast	86	49
Midwest	91	58
South	98	74
West	65	36

Source: Residential Energy Consumption Survey, Air conditioning in nearly 100 million U.S. homes

Marriage and Divorce: The Numbers

You would think that a nation so heatedly debating who has a right to marry and who doesn't would keep very good records of who is marrying and who isn't. But you would be wrong. The federal government stopped collecting data from the states on the incidence of marriage and divorce in 1996. We have been flying blind since then and talking heads have filled the vacuum.

Until now. Yesterday, the Census Bureau released the first of what should be annual survey-based estimates of marriage and divorce from the American Community Survey. These releases will provide marriage, divorce, and widowhood rates for men and women by state (highest rate of divorce is in the South--by far; highest rate of marriage is in the West): and profile the demographic characteristics of people who are marrying or divorcing.

Who is marrying? Among the 2.2 million women who married in 2009, the largest share (38 percent) had a bachelor's degree or more education. The 39 percent plurality had a household income of $75,000 or more. The 69 percent majority were employed. Fifty-two percent were homeowners, and 63 percent lived in single-family homes. Bottom line: marriage has become an upscale event, with the educated and affluent most likely to tie the knot.

Source: Census Bureau: Marital Events of Americans: 2009

2010 Census Finds Lower Homeownership Rates

The 2010 census found far lower homeownership rates in every age group than the Census Bureau had estimated for the same time period based on the Housing Vacancy Survey. The census count of homeowners and renters by age for the nation as a whole was released this morning. Take a look at how the census numbers compare with the survey estimates:

	census	survey	diff
Total	65.1	66.9	-1.8
<25	16.1	22.9	-6.8
25-34	42.0	44.4	-2.4
35-44	62.3	65.0	-2.7
45-54	71.5	73.5	-2.0
55-64	77.3	79.0	-1.7
65-plus	77.5	80.5	-3.0
65-74	80.2	82.0	-1.7
75-plus	74.5	78.9	-4.4

The census numbers are, of course, the far more accurate figures. The Housing Vacancy Survey methodology will have to be revised and once that is accomplished all homeownership estimates going forward will use census numbers as a base. The Mystery of the Young Homeowner has been solved--it was a methodological error!

Who Eats Out?

Most of us, every day. This is the percentage who eat (or drink) away from home on an average day by household income...

Total aged 20 or older: 67%
Less than $25,000: 53%
$25,000 to $74,999: 68%
$75,000 or more: 78%

Source: USDA, What We Eat in America, 2007-2008

Women Judges

Percentage of presidential appointees to U.S. Courts of Appeals judgeships who are women, by president...

Johnson:  2.5%
Nixon:  0%
Ford:  0%
Carter:  19.6%
Reagan:  5.1%
Bush I:  18.9%
Clinton:  32.8%
Bush II:  25.4%
Obama:  33.3%

Source: Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics

Middle Income Households Cut Restaurant Spending

During the Great Recession, the average household cut its spending on food, especially eating out. A USDA analysis of who cut their spending the most reveals that middle-income households (in the middle 20 percent of the income distribution, with an average income of $46,012) cut their spending more than lower- or higher-income households.

Between 2006 and 2009, middle-income households cut their spending on groceries by 6 percent, after adjusting for inflation. They cut their spending on restaurant meals by a much larger 21 percent. No wonder restaurants were feeling the pain.

How did they manage to reduce their spending on both eating out and groceries? By buying lower-cost foods and shopping at lower-cost stores. A record 810 new private-label brands appeared on grocery store shelves in 2009, reports the USDA's Economic Research Service. Sales of packaged leafy greens fell relative to sales of less-expensive unpackaged greens. The market share captured by nontraditional food outlets (such as warehouse clubs and supercenters) also climbed, reaching 30 percent in 2009.

Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Food Spending Adjustments During Recessionary Times, Amber Waves, September 2011

Stock Market Jitters

As if we need something else to worry about: Boomer Retirement: Headwinds for U.S. Equity Markets? (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco).

Last Place Aversion

No one wants to be in last place. In fact, they so do not want to be in last place that those close to but not at the bottom will fight policies intended to improve the lives of the ones in last place, according to a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Explains a lot of the crazy.

Religious Identification

Percentage of Americans who identify themselves as Protestant, by age...

18 to 44: 38%
45 to 64: 53%
65-plus: 59%

Source: General Social Survey

Cash in a Pinch

Could you come up with $2,000 within 30 days to pay an unexpected bill? Most Americans could not do this. Yet financial shocks of this size are not uncommon.

According to a study by the Center for Financial Security at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, people are reluctant to save for a rainy day because they think they will have more "financial slack" in the future. In other words, they think it will be easier in the future to come up with cash for an emergency, so they do not save ahead. This is an illusion, say psychologists. In the future, your finances will feel just as tight as they do today.

Source: Center for Financial Security, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Coming Up with Cash in a Pinch: Emergency Savings and Its Alternatives

Debt of the Foreclosed

According to a study by the Federal Reserve Board, individuals who have had foreclosure proceedings begin against them had the following characteristics...

Average age: 42
Median credit score: 562

Median mortgage balance: $152,901

Median credit card balance: $3,498

Median auto loan balance: $15,728

Source: Federal Reserve Board, The Post-Foreclosure Experience of U.S. Households, Raven Molloy and Hui Shan, 2011-32

What Happens After Foreclosure?

A new study by the Federal Reserve Board examines what happens to households after a foreclosure. Based on credit report data from the FRBNY/Equifax Consumer Credit Panel--a nationally representative 5 percent random sample of Americans with credit files and their household members--the study tracked the experiences of individuals following the start of a foreclosure. The study compared the experiences of those with a foreclosure (the Foreclosed) with a demographically similar group of individuals who did not experience a foreclosure (the Comparables).

• Mobility: 23 percent of the Foreclosed moved within a year versus 12 percent of Comparables.
• Household size. About one-third of the Foreclosed saw their household size increase and another one-third saw their household size shrink after foreclosure.
• Household composition. Only 18 percent of the Foreclosed were living with the same people two years later versus 47 percent of Comparables. Twelve percent of the Foreclosed had moved in with an adult 20 or more years older (likely a parent). Among Comparables, only 5 percent were living with an older adult two years later.
• Housing type. A substantial 76 percent of the Foreclosed were living in a single-family house two years later versus 93 percent of Comparables. Only 22 percent of the Foreclosed had moved into a multi-family unit, but this was much greater than the 3 percent of Comparables who had moved into an apartment building.

The study's authors conclude that while there are some adverse affects of foreclosure, most who experience the start of a foreclosure are still in the same house two years later. Apparently, many foreclosures are resolved through refinancing or other means. Most of the Foreclosed who move end up in equivalent housing--a single family home in a similar neighborhood.

Source: Federal Reserve Board, The Post-Foreclosure Experience of U.S. Households, Raven Molloy and Hui Shan, 2011-32

Another Way to Look at American Workers

Among America's 139 million workers, number whose primary job duty is to...

Manage: 15 million

Count: 6 million
Think: 8 million
Talk: 4 million
Teach: 9 million
Create: 3 million
Heal: 11 million
Protect: 3 million
Cook: 8 million
Clean: 5 million
Help: 5 million
Sell: 15 million
Organize: 18 million
Grow: 1 million
Build: 7 million
Fix: 5 million
Make: 8 million
Move: 8 million

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employed Persons by Occupation