The End of the Rise in Women's Earnings

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, the decades-long increase in the earnings of women who work full-time came to an end. In 2012, the median of $691 per week earned by women who work full-time in wage and salary employment was less than the $704 they earned in 2010, after adjusting for inflation. Women are joining men in the struggle to stay even. In 2012, their male counterparts earned a median of $854 per week, less than the $867 they earned in 2010 and the $861 they earned all the way back in 1979.

Over the years, the rise in women's earnings has kept American families afloat. With women and men now experiencing earnings stagnation or outright decline, household incomes have fallen. The $51,017 median household income of 2012 was more than $5,000 below the 1999 peak of $56,080, after adjusting for inflation.

For more about women's earnings, see the Bureau of Labor Statistics report Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2012 (PDF)

Warm Feelings for Christians

Just how warmly do Americans feel toward religious groups? A survey by the Public Religion Research Institute asked respondents to rate religious groups using a "feeling thermometer" with a scale ranging from 1 (coldest) to 100 (warmest). A temperature of 51 or higher means the respondent feels warmer toward a group. A temperature of 1 to 49 means the respondent feels colder toward a group. If the feeling is neither warm nor cold, the rating would be 50. Here are the temperatures...

74.6 degrees for Christians
67.8 degrees for Jews
64.8 degrees for Catholics
43.0 degrees for atheists
42.4 degrees for Muslims

Interestingly, Americans on the whole feel cold toward atheists (43.0) but more warmly toward "non-religious people," whose temperature was a higher 56.1.

Source: Public Religion Research Institute, American Values Survey 2013

E-Book Reader Ownership: 2013

Twenty-four percent of Americans aged 16 or older owned an e-book reader as of September 2013, according to Pew Internet and American Life Project. A larger 35 percent own a tablet computer. Ownership trends show tablet computers are being adopted more readily than e-book readers.

• In December 2011, 10 percent of Americans owned each type of device. 
• By November 2012, e-book reader ownership had climbed 9 percentage points to 19 percent. Tablet computer ownership had grown by a larger 15 percentage points to 25 percent. 
• By September 2013, e-book ownership had increased by another 5 percentage points to 24 percent. Tablet computer ownership had grown twice as fast, rising by 10 percentage points to the current 35 percent.  

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project, Tablet and E-Reader Ownership Update

How to Stay Married

Go to college. Education, and in particular a college degree, appears to be the key to a long-lasting marriage, according to a study of marriage and divorce by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Based on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, which is tracking a cohort of Americans born between 1957 and 1964, the BLS found striking differences by educational attainment in the probability of a long-lasting marriage.

Among the ever-married in 2010-11 (when the cohort was aged 45 to 52), only 49 percent of those who went no further than high school were still in their first marriage. The figure was a much larger 69 percent among their counterparts with a bachelor's degree.

What accounts for these differences? Age at first marriage is one factor. The older the age at first marriage, the lower the probability of divorce. Young adults who spend time earning a degree marry at an older age than those who do not devote years to their education. Consequently, college graduates are more mature when they marry and less likely to divorce. Another factor is money. The less educated often have low earnings, leading to marital stress and a higher likelihood of divorce.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Marriage and Divorce: Patterns by Gender, Race, and Educational Attainment

More about Computer Use for Leisure

Inspired by Scott Wallsten's excellent NBER study of how many hours per day people participate in the time use category "computer use for leisure," I took a look at the 2012 numbers from the American Time Use Survey. He's right: millions of Americans spend much of their leisure time online.

Keep in mind that the "computer use for leisure" category does not include gaming, emailing, watching television or videos, reading for personal interest, or work—all of which are coded separately. In fact, the "computer use for leisure" category is a remainder and most of it is social networking, web surfing, and search, according to Wallsten's analysis.

On an average day in 2012, fully 13 percent of people aged 15 or older spent leisure time online. By age, the figure ranges from a low of 9 percent (people aged 65-plus) to a high of 21 percent (15-to-19-year-olds). As Wallsten points out, those who go online spend a considerable amount of their leisure time on the computer. Here are the numbers for 2012...

Hours (and percent) of leisure time spent online by participants
Total, 15-plus: 1.61 (32%)
Aged 15 to 19: 1.39 (29%)
Aged 20 to 24: 2.29 (45%)
Aged 25 to 34: 1.38 (33%)
Aged 35 to 44: 1.34 (33%)
Aged 45 to 54: 1.56 (34%)
Aged 55 to 64: 1.65 (31%)
Aged 65-plus: 1.85 (27%)

Remember these figures do not include gaming. On an average day in 2012, a substantial 21 percent of 15-to-19-year-olds played games (a separate time use category that includes online gaming as well as  board and card games). Those in the age group who played games devoted an astonishing 2.66 hours to gaming (55 percent of their leisure time!).

See my earlier post about Wallsten's study here, in which he determines the activities most likely to lose out because of all the time we spend online.

Median Monthly Earnings by Age

The earnings of Americans are modest. Among those with earnings (wages, salaries, and self-employment), median monthly personal earnings range from a low of just over $1,000 per month for 15-to-24-year-olds to a high of $3,211 per month for 45-to-54-year-olds.

Median monthly personal earnings by age
Total, 15-plus: $2,598
Aged 15 to 24: $1,073
Aged 25 to 34: $2,531
Aged 35 to 44: $3,189
Aged 45 to 54: $3,211
Aged 55 to 64: $3,155
Aged 65-plus: $1,738

Source: Census Bureau, Income and Earnings Estimates, First Quarter 2012

The Crowding Effect

"Birth-year cohort effects" explain why Americans born in the 1930s and 1940s have done better economically than those born in the 1950s and later, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. In other words, size matters.

Turns out, being a member of a small generation can be good for the pocketbook. The baby bust of the Great Depression and World War II resulted in a small birth cohort that, because of its scarcity, enjoyed a lifetime of relatively higher earnings, lower house prices, and strong growth in asset prices compared to the bigger birth cohorts that came before and after. That explains why the large baby-boom generation doesn't measure up—it's the crowding effect. "It is plausible that Baby Boomers may have suffered from crowding in labor, housing, and financial markets," say the Fed researchers. "This may have resulted in unfavorable developments in income and wealth accumulation."

Unfortunately for boomers, the crowding effect is a life sentence: "It appears unlikely to us that Baby Boomers—who are just now entering retirement in large numbers—will enjoy incomes and wealth for given demographic characteristics as favorable as that enjoyed by pre-boomers," conclude the researchers.

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Center for Household Financial Stability Working Paper, The Economic and Financial Status of Older Americans: Trends and Prospects

Pew Probes Hispanic Identity

A Pew survey of the nation's Hispanics finds that the 54 percent majority usually identify themselves by their family's country of origin such as Mexican, Salvadoran, etc., rather than "Hispanic." Only 20 percent usually identify themselves as Hispanic, less than the 23 percent who usually identify themselves as simply "American."

When asked whether they prefer the term "Hispanic" or "Latino," half have no preference, 33 percent prefer Hispanic, and just 15 percent prefer Latino.

When asked whether they think of themselves as a typical American, the 49 percent plurality of Hispanics say yes. But a substantial 44 percent say they are very different from the typical American, a figure that climbs to 67 percent among those who immigrated to the United States in the past five years.

Source: Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project, Three-Fourths of Hispanics Say their Community Needs a Leader

"What Are We Not Doing When We're Online"

That is the provocative title of a study by Scott Wallsten of the Technology Policy Institute, which examines how much time Americans spend in "computer use for leisure" and what they're not doing because they're online. He has answers.

Using the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), which collects data on how a representative sample of Americans aged 15 or older spent their time, minute-by-minute, in the previous 24 hours, Wallsten calculates how online time correlates with time spent in other activities. He does this using the ATUS category "computer use for leisure," which excludes activities such as emailing, gaming, watching television and videos, reading, and working—all of which are coded under separate categories. What that leaves, then, is social networking, web surfing, and search. Americans are spending a growing amount of time in those activities. In 2011, the average person spent 13 minutes a day engaged in "computer use for leisure," or 4 percent of leisure time. That doesn't sound like much because it's an average. In fact, those who spend any amount of leisure time online devote roughly 100 minutes a day to the activity, says Wallsten, which is about one-third of their leisure time. And that means they aren't doing something else.

So what aren't they doing while online? They aren't watching television, for one. Online time has the biggest negative impact on time spent watching television and videos. The second largest negative impact is on socializing in traditional ways. Online leisure time also reduces time spent working, participating in educational activities, and sleeping.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research, What Are We Not Doing When We're Online, Scott Wallsten, NBER Working Paper 19549, ($5)

Emergency Department Visits by People Aged 65+

Older Americans are frequent visitors to hospital emergency departments. In a year's time, the emergency department visit rate is 511 for every 1,000 people aged 65 or older. On average, then, about half the elderly go to an emergency room in a year's time. But some are more likely to have an emergency than others, with the visit rate increasing with age...

Annual number of emergency department visits per 1,000 people
Aged 65 to 74: 398
Aged 75 to 84: 573
Aged 85-plus: 832

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Emergency Department Visits by Persons Aged 65 and Over: United States, 2009-2010

Hype and Reality

Percent of all Americans who think the health insurance
exchange websites are working "fairly/very" well: 29%

Percent of health insurance exchange visitors who thought the
online exchange website was "fairly/very" easy to use: 56%

Source: Pew Research Center, Public Registers Bumpy Launch of Health Care Exchange Websites

Four Types of Retirees

Most Americans plan to work after they retire, according to an Associated Press-NORC survey of people aged 50 or older. When asked how likely it is that they will work for pay in retirement, the 59 percent majority say it is at least somewhat likely. 

It's not surprising that a growing share of older workers plan to retire but keep working. A lengthy work life goes hand in hand with higher levels of education. A recent study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College finds higher levels of education accounting for most of the increase in the labor force participation of men aged 60 to 74. 

With many older Americans struggling to afford any kind of retirement and others unwilling to give up a stimulating career, boomers are splitting apart. The split was uncovered by AARP in a probe of the attitudes of a nationally representative sample of workers aged 50 to 65 without a traditional pension. AARP's Retirement Attitudes Segmentation Survey found four types of retirees emerging:

• Cautious clockwatchers are what you might call "traditional" retirees, accounting for 33 percent of the total. They are confident about their finances and plan to stop working completely in retirement and enjoy their leisure time.
• Day-to-day life embracers are what you might call "pragmatic" retirees and 27 percent of the total. They see retirement as a time to be creative but envision a gradual transition to ending their career because of ongoing financial needs.
• Proactive self-actualizers are what you might call "emeritus" retirees and 24 percent of the total. Highly educated and confident, they want to work in retirement because they love what they do.
• Doubters are what you might call "troubled" retirees and 17 percent of the total. They are least confident about their finances and do not envision retirement as a time of leisure.

Tablet Computer Ownership in 2013

Thirty-five percent of Americans aged 16 or older owned a tablet computer in September 2013, according to a Pew survey. This figure is up from 25 percent in November 2012. Here are ownership rates by age, race, and Hispanic origin...

Ownership of a tablet computer by age
Aged 16 to 17: 46%
Aged 18 to 29: 37%
Aged 30 to 49: 44%
Aged 50 to 64: 31%
Aged 65-plus: 18%

Ownership of a tablet computer by race and Hispanic origin
Asian: 50%
Black: 29%
Hispanic: 37%
Non-Hispanic white: 35%

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project, Tablet and E-reader Ownership Update

Cola or Coffee?

Cola it is! Cola is more popular than coffee in the average American household. When grocery shopping during an average week, 29 percent of households buy cola and a smaller 17 percent buy coffee, according to an analysis of the 2012 Consumer Expenditure Survey. In every age group, cola buyers outnumber coffee buyers.

Average Household Size Hits New Low in 2013

The average household was home to just 2.54 people in 2013, the smallest on record. The economic turmoil of the Great Recession barely disturbed the long-term decline in average household size. From 2.56 people in the average household in 2007, the figure inched up to 2.59 by 2010 and has fallen in every year since.

The powerful force shrinking the nation's households is the aging of the population. Millions of boomers are becoming empty nesters and others are becoming widowed. Among the 122 million households in the United States today, 61 percent are home to only one or two people.

Source: Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys

35% Are Obese

The good news is that obesity has not increased in the past few years. The bad news is that more than one-third of American adults are not just overweight, but obese. These are the latest findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which measures the height and weight of a representative sample of Americans to determine weight status.

In all, 79 million adults were obese in 2011-12, defined as having a Body Mass Index of 30 or higher. Obesity peaks among 40-to-59-year-olds at 39.5 percent. It is a slightly lower 30.3 percent among 20-to-39-year-olds. Among people aged 60 or older, 35.4 percent are obese.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Prevalence of Obesity among Adults: United States, 2011-2012

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Americans Rate Online Education Poorly

A substantial 5 percent of Americans aged 18 or older, and 8 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds, are currently taking online courses, according to a Gallup survey. Despite the popularity of online education, most Americans disparage the results.

The 52 percent majority of the public rates the quality of online education as only fair or poor. In contrast, 68 percent say the quality of education offered by four-year colleges is good to excellent, and 64 percent feel positively about community colleges. When it comes to "providing a degree that will be viewed positively by employers," only 33 percent think an online degree is equivalent to a traditional degree and 49 percent think it is worse.

Source: Gallup, In U.S., Online Education Rated Best for Value and Options; Viewed as Weakest in Terms of Trusted Grading and Acceptance by Employers

Before and After ACA: State by State

The number of Americans without health insurance will drop sharply in all but one state after the Affordable Care Act goes into effect in 2014. The Urban Institute calculates the numbers, and its analysis shows that the decline in the number of uninsured will range from 25 percent in Vermont to more than 50 percent in eight states The only state in which the uninsured are not expected to decline is Massachusetts, where a version of the ACA has been available to state residents for years. Only 4 percent of Massachusetts residents do not have health insurance.

The decline in the number of uninsured would be much greater if every state had adopted the Medicaid eligibility expansion as was intended by the ACA. Mississippi, one of 26 states to reject the expansion, will see only a 29 percent reduction in its 544,000 uninsured versus what would have been a 54 percent reduction if the state had expanded Medicaid. In fact, 28 states rather than just 8 would see at least a 50 percent reduction in their uninsured if every state had adopted the Medicaid expansion.

Source: Urban Institute, Eligibility for Assistance and Projected Changes in Coverage Under the ACA: Variation across States

2 Million Fewer Nuclear Families

The Great Recession and its aftermath changed the lives of young adults, and the nation is experiencing the consequences. The number of nuclear families (married couples with children under age 18) is shrinking because young adults are postponing marriage and childbearing, creating a new baby bust and driving the median age at first marriage to a record high.

In 2013, there were 25 million nuclear families, down from 27 million in 2007. Today, only 21 percent of the nation's households are headed by married couples with children under age 18. A larger 27 percent are headed by people who live alone.

Source: Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (currently unavailable due to government shutdown)