Free and Clear

Among the nation's 74 million homeowners, the percentage who own their home free and clear rises with age to the majority in the 65-to-74 age group. Nevertheless, a large proportion of older homeowners face mortgage payments well into their golden years.

Percentage of homeowners without a mortgage

Total homeowners: 34%

Under age 35: 13%

Aged 35 to 44: 12%

Aged 45 to 54: 20%

Aged 55 to 59: 30%

Aged 60 to 64: 39%

Aged 65 to 74: 55%

Aged 75 or older: 79%

Source: Census Bureau, 2011 American Community Survey

Young Adults Less Religious

Growing numbers of Americans are not affiliated with a religion, according to a Pew survey. Nearly 20 percent of the population (19.6 percent) reported no religious affiliation in 2012. Compare that figure to the one reported four decades ago by the General Social Survey: in 1972, only 5 percent of the population had no religious affiliation.

What explains the rise? The most important factor is generational replacement, with younger generations less likely than older adults to identify with a religion. Fully 32 percent of people aged 18 to 29 have no religious affiliation, finds the Pew survey. This compares with 21 percent of 30-to-49-year-olds, 15 percent of 50-to-64-year-olds, and just 9 percent of people aged 65 or older.

American society is becoming increasingly secular, with each succeeding generation of young adults less likely than its predecessor to affiliate with a religion. Forty years ago in 1972, only 10 percent of young adults aged 18-to-29 had no religious affiliation. That figure has more than tripled over the decades. Aging does not appear to boost religious affiliation, either. If you track one cohort over the decades using General Social Survey data, the 10 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds who had no religious affiliation in 1972 grew to 16 percent of 56-to-67-year-olds in 2010 (the latest GSS year available).

Source: Pew Research Center, "Nones" on the Rise: One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation; and General Social Survey

Diet Drink Demographics

One in five Americans drinks a diet soda on an average day, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Women aged 40 to 59 are most likely to drink diet soft drinks, with 28 percent consuming one or more on an average day.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Consumption of Diet Drinks in the United States, 2009-2010

Life Expectancy, 2011

Life expectancy at birth in the United States was unchanged in 2011, at 78.7 years, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. For females, life expectancy is 81.1 years at birth, and for males it is 76.3 years. Life expectancy differs by race and Hispanic origin as follows...

Hispanic females: 83.7
Non-Hispanic white females: 81.1
Hispanic males: 78.9
Non-Hispanic black females: 77.8
Non-Hispanic white males: 76.4
Non-Hispanic black males: 71.6

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2011

Fewer Non-Hispanic Whites Under Age 45

The nation's demographics are changing rapidly. Nowhere is this more evident than among Americans under age 45. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of non-Hispanic whites under age 45 fell by 10 percent--a decline of 12 million. In contrast, the number of Asians, blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities in the under-45 age group grew by 22 percent--an increase of 14.5 million.

Between 2000 and 2010, the non-Hispanic white share of the under-age-45 population fell from 64 to 57 percent, while the minority share climbed from 36 to 43 percent.

Source: Census Bureau, National Intercensal Estimates (2000-2010)

Earnings by College Major

Is a bachelor's degree still worth the investment? According to two reports by the Census Bureau, the answer is yes. The median earnings of college graduates who work full-time is well above average at $64,396 (versus about $35,000 for high school grads), and lifetime earnings are far above average at $2.4 million (versus $1.4 million for high school grads). Annual median and lifetime earnings vary greatly by college major, however. Take a look:

Engineering
Median annual earnings: $91,611
Lifetime earnings: $3.5 million

Computers and Math
Median annual earnings: $80,180
Lifetime earnings: $3.1 million

Business
Median annual earnings: $66,605
Lifetime earnings: $2.6 million

Liberal Arts
Median annual earnings: $58,761
Lifetime earnings: $2.1 million

Education
Median annual earnings: $50,902
Lifetime earnings: $1.8 million

Source: Census Bureau, Field of Degree and Earnings by Selected Employment Characteristics: 2011 and Work-Life Earnings by Field of Degree and Occupation for People with a Bachelor's Degree: 2011

Rich or Poor, Asian Kids Go to College

It is a well known fact that low-income families in the United States are less likely than the affluent to send their children to college. Unless they're Asian, that is.

Asian families with children aged 5 to 24 are equally likely to have a child in college regardless of family income. Among Asian families with incomes below $20,000, 27 percent have a child in college. Among Asian families with incomes of $75,000 or more, an identical 27 percent have a child in college. In contrast, among low-income non-Hispanic white families, only 9 percent have a child in college versus a much larger 22 percent of the affluent families. The figures are about the same for black families (10 versus 21 percent) and Hispanic families (9 versus 22 percent). 

Source: Census Bureau, School Enrollment

Rapid Growth in the Yogurt Market

Pounds of yogurt consumed per person per year...
2010: 9.4
2000: 4.5
1990: 2.9
1980: 1.7
1970: 0.6

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System

2011 College Enrollment

The number of students enrolled in the nation's colleges climbed yet again, reaching a record high of 20.4 million in 2011, according to the Census Bureau. The 122,000 increase in enrollment between 2010 and 2011 was the smallest rise in the past five years.

Enrollment in four-year colleges grew to a record high of 10.9 million in 2011, which was 470,000 more students than in 2010. In contrast, enrollment in two-year colleges and graduate schools retreated during the time period. Two-year college enrollment fell to 5.7 million in 2011 (down 199,000), and graduate school enrollment fell to 3.8 million (down 148,000).

Source: Census Bureau, School Enrollment

Family Distances

This is how far Americans aged 50 or older live from their children and siblings...

Distance from children
A child lives less than a 1-hour drive from home: 71%
A child lives from a 1- to 5-hour drive from home:  26%
A child lives more than a 5-hour drive from home: 40%

Distance from siblings
A sibling lives less than a 1-hour drive from home: 40%
A sibling lives from a 1- to 5-hour drive from home:  26%
A sibling lives more than a 5-hour drive from home: 55%

Source: AARP, Family Today: A Study of U.S. Families

How People Get to Work

The Great Recession did little to change the way people get to work and the time it takes to get there. Average travel time to work was 25.5 minutes in 2011--about the same as the 25.3 minutes of 2007, according to the American Community Survey. This is how people got to work in 2011 (and in 2007)...

Drove alone: 76.4% (76.1%)
Carpooled: 9.7% (10.4%)
Public transportation: 5.0% (4.9%)
Walked: 2.8% (2.8%)
Other means: 1.7% (1.7%)
Worked at home: 4.3% (4.1%)

Source: Census Bureau, American Community Survey

Hispanics by Place of Birth

Among the nation's 52 million Hispanics, the 64 percent majority are native-born. Only 36 percent are foreign born. Here is the breakdown of Hispanics by place of birth..

Total Hispanics: 100.0%
Born in state of residence: 48.6%
Born in another US state: 11.3%
Native; born outside US: 3.9%
Foreign born: 36.2%

Source: Census Bureau, 2011 American Community Survey

Who's Getting Married?

Every year since 2008, the American Community Survey has collected data on marriage and divorce in the United States. Here are some of the findings from the 2011 survey...

Men who got married in 2011
Number: 2,144,467
Median age: 31.6 years
College graduate: 28.5%
In labor force: 88.9%
Has a child under age 18: 33.6%
Homeowner: 50.0%

Women who got married in 2011
Number: 2,096,359
Median age: 29.5 years
College graduate: 32.9%
In labor force: 76.7%
Has a child under age 18: 36.1%
Homeowner: 50.3%

Source: Census Bureau, 2011 American Community Survey

Not Many Work at Home

Working at home was supposed to be the Next Big Thing. Turns out, not so much. According to the American Community survey, 6 million people worked primarily from home in 2010. That number grew 30 percent between 2000 and 2010, an impressive gain, but the proportion who work at home climbed from only 3.3 to 4.3 percent during those years.

About one-third of those who work from home are aged 55 or older, half are self-employed or unpaid family workers, and half earn less than $25,000 a year. The earnings of those who work at home account for only about one-third of their household's total median earnings.

Source: Census Bureau, Home-Based Workers in the United States: 2010

The Boomer Troubles

Once upon a time, a whole bunch of businesses were salivating at the thought of the impending retirement of the massive baby-boom generation. Boomers were going to inherit trillions, said economists. Boomers were going to retire early, said sociologists. Businesses looked forward to an unprecedented expansion in the number of well-heeled retirees.

Then the troubles began. Let's start with those inheritances, which have been aspirated away by the health care industry as it circles the long-lived parents of the baby-boom generation. And those eagerly awaited retirements? They have been postponed as aging boomers discovered too late that 401(k)s are poor substitutes for pensions. Then the Great Recession hit and, according to a new AARP survey, boomers lost their mojo. The AARP survey, which probed the financial wellbeing and attitudes of workers aged 50 to 64 during and after the Great Recession, found boomers to be decidedly downbeat.

"One of the survey's most striking findings is the gloomy view participants take of the economic environment," notes AARP. When asked how their standard of living in retirement would or does compare to that of their parents, this is what boomers had to say...

Better: 22%
Same: 23%
Worse: 48%

When asked how their economic security in retirement would or does compare to that of their parents, here is what boomers had to say...

More secure: 14%
Same security: 20%
Less secure: 51%

Insecurity is bad for business. Insecurity means boomers will work longer, save more, and spend less. The 54 percent majority of boomers have taken steps to beef up their retirement security, finds AARP. Those steps include working more, saving more, and spending less.

Source: AARP, Boomers and the Great Recession: Struggling to Recover

Update on the New Baby Bust

Today the National Center for Health Statistics released its preliminary report on births in 2011, confirming the big trend of this post-Great Recession era: a baby bust is in progress. If the government's writers were permitted to use exclamation marks in their reports, this particular report would be littered with them. Take a look...

• In 2011, there were 3,953,593 births in the United States. This was 1 percent fewer than the 3,999,386 final count for 2010 and 8 percent below the all-time high of 4,316,233 births in 2007.
• The 2011 fertility rate fell to an all-time low of 63.2 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44. Did you get that? All time low!
• The birth rate for women aged 20 to 24 is the lowest ever recorded--85.3 births per 1,000 women in the age group. Young adults are postponing childbearing as they struggle in the wake of the Great Recession. 
• Among women aged 25 to 29, the birth rate fell to 107.2 births per 1,000 women in the age group--the lowest rate since 1976, a baby-bust year. 
• By race and Hispanic origin, the birth rate dropped the most among Hispanics--down 6 percent between 2010 and 2011 to 75.7 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44. The rate fell 2 percent among black women to 65.5 and was unchanged among non-Hispanic white women at 58.8. 
• Births to unmarried women fell between 2010 and 2011, but the percentage of births to unmarried women remains above 40 percent.   
• Teenagers accounted for only 18 percent of births to unmarried women in 2011, the smallest percentage ever recorded and down from 50 percent in 1970. 
• The first-birth rate fell to an all-time low in 2011 as young women postponed motherhood. The second-birth rate fell to the lowest level since 1940.

Bottom line: demographers will tell you that postponed childbearing means less childbearing--fewer lifetime births, smaller families, and the arrival of another baby-bust generation.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Births: Preliminary Data for 2011

Getting the News

Preferred way to get news, by generation in percent...

	TV	Online	Print
Total pop:	50	36	10
Millennials:	34	55	5
Gen Xers:	52	38	7
Boomers:	59	27	13
Matures:	60	17	22

Source: Harris Interactive, TV is America's Preferred News Mode Overall, but Online is Matching or Outpacing It in Some Segments

Many Wives Depend on Husband for Health Insurance

Among married women under age 65, fully 72 percent are covered by employment-based health insurance, but only 36 percent have employment-based health insurance in their own name.

Source: Census Bureau, Health Insurance

Doctor Visits Decline

Americans are going to the doctor much less frequently as they try to control their out-of-pocket health care spending. The number of times people aged 18 to 64 visited a medical provider in the past 12 months fell from an average of 4.8 visits in 2001 to 3.9 visits in 2010.

Source: Census Bureau, Health Status, Health Insurance, and Medical Services Utilization: 2010

Paper Losses

A shrinking share of the public uses paper to get news and information on a typical day, according to Pew Research Center. Between 2002 and 2012, the percentage of Americans who read a print newspaper yesterday fell from 41 to 23 percent. Printed book readership declined from 34 to 30 percent, and printed magazine readership from 23 to 17 percent.

Only 12 percent of the public received or wrote a letter on paper yesterday, down from 20 percent in 2006. Among regular readers of the venerable New York Times, the 55 percent majority usually reads the newspaper digitally. This is all very bad news for Dunder Mifflin.

Source: Pew Research Center, In Changing News Landscape, Even Television is Vulnerable