The US is the only country in the industrialized world where children are less likely to graduate from high school than their parents were.
Source: Education Trust
The US Census Bureau estimates that there are more than 4 million children living in homes where a grandparent is the primary caregiver.
Jupiter Research reports that 35% of email users open their email because of the words in the subject line.
According to the UN’s Food & Agricultural Organization, just 4 community crops--corn, soybeans, canola and cotton--account for 85% of all genetically modified crops planted worldwide.
This May, Facebook launched a new application called Causes. It allows users to rally their social network to support and donate to specific nonprofits. Save Darfur currently has 232,846 members and donations totaling $20,158. To learn how to promote your non-profit’s cause on Facebook in five easy steps, click here.
Here’s an energy-saving tip from the U.S. government: drive sensibly. Aggressive driving, including speeding, rapid acceleration and braking, wastes gasoline and can lower your highway gas mileage 33% and city mileage 5%.
The United States gives 22 cents per $100 of national income to development assistance. The average for rich countries is more than double, at 47 cents.
Source: Nicholas Kristof, “A Land of Camel Milk and Honey,” Feb 27, 2007
Just 3% of serious media positions are held by women in the United States.
The United States ranks 68th in the world for the amount of women in elected power.
According to a report prepared by Focalyst and Dynamic Logic, elders ages 62 and up are spending about 44 minutes online each day. The most popular online tasks are searching for information, contacting family and friends, and checking current events and the weather.
According to a new survey by National Geographic called The Greendex, Brazil and India share first place for the highest level of environmentally sustainable consumption worldwide. In contrast, the United States placed last.
A new study published in the online journal, Public Library of Science showed that life expectancy is declining in some parts of the United States. Areas where life expectancy has declined significantly include Appalachia, the Southeast, Texas, the southern Midwest and along the Mississippi River. To see a New York Times article about declining life expectancy, click here.
According to the National Recycling Coalition, “Recycling a single aluminum can saves enough energy to power a TV for 3 hours.”
According to an article published by the New York Times, “The 2000 Census found that 41 percent of the mixed-race population was under 18.”
A new poll conducted by Harris Interactive found that 54 percent of Americans do not trust the press.
Scientists say that hot water flowing through pipes “dissolves contaminates more quickly than cold water, and many pipes in homes contain lead that leach into water.” Even though many new pipes are marketed as “lead-free,” they can still contain as much as 8 percent lead. Bottom line: use cold tap water for cooking and drinking. Read the article here.
According to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, among people ages 12 to 17, girls are significantly more active in blogging than boys (35 percent of girls blog, 20 percent of boys). Girls are also far more active in building web sites and creating online profiles (70 percent of girls have their own websites or online profiles compared with 57 percent of boys). To view the full article, click here.
“According to a study done by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, some 11 percent of sexual harassment complaints ‘are filed by men against their female supervisors.’ From 1990 to 2006, the study found the percentage of charges filed by men ‘nearly doubled.’
--The New York Times
In the U.S., “two out of five Black babies are born into poverty and more than half of all poor Black children live in extreme poverty.”
According to new information posted on The Agitator and Online Marketing Blog, nearly 70% of all reporters check a blog list regularly, and over 75% of reporters find blogs to be helpful resources for story ideas and insight into the tone of an issue.
It costs $18.16 to buy 1,000 calories worth of healthy food (i.e., fruits and vegetables). It costs $1.76 to buy 1,000 calories worth of junk food, such as processed breads, cookies, candy, and snack foods.
In January 1969, newly elected African American representatives of the 77th Congress joined six incumbents to form the “Democratic Select Committee. The Committee was renamed and in 1971 the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) was born. Currently, there are more than 43 members of the CBC.
“Recent work from Cornell University and the University of California at Davis suggest that obesity among poor women may be linked to their habit of periodically going without food so that their children can eat.”
One acre of planted Christmas trees provides the daily oxygen requirements for eighteen people.
--National Christmas Tree Association
“Two-thirds of college graduates borrow money to pay for school and graduate with an average of $19,200 in student loan debt.”
Demos: A Network for Ideas & Action. By a Thread: The New Experience of America’s Middle Class. 2007.
Every year, nearly 400,000 qualified high school students do not enroll in a 4-year college due to the high cost of tuition.
Demos: A Network for Ideas & Action. By a Thread: The New Experience of America’s Middle Class. 2007.
Almost one out of every four Latino two-year-olds is not fully immunized.
--"Latino Child Health Fact Sheet.” Children’s Defense Fund, 26 September 2007. See more facts about Latinos living in the U.S. by clicking here.
“People in developing countries think good jobs would help them far more than the food and health aid that industrialized countries send. Among sub-Saharan Africans, jobs for young people and AIDS treatment have the same priority.”
--"Gallup releases first survey of well-being worldwide,” McClatchy 5 October 2007, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/20236.html.
A laptop computer uses about half the energy of a desktop and a computer that carries the EnergyStar certification uses about 70% less energy than a computer without certification. Find more energy saving tips at Energy Star.
New York City ranks number 7 in the top 10 greenest cities in the U.S. Calculated by population, New Yorkers use fewer resources and put less pressure on their surroundings than any other city of its size. To see a complete list of the top 10 greenest cities, click here.
As of July 1, 2006 the estimated Hispanic population in the United States was 44.3 million. This makes the Hispanic population the largest ethnic or race minority in the U.S., constituting 15 percent of the total population. It is estimated that by 2050, the Hispanic population will have grown to 102.6 million, constitution 24 percent of the total U.S. population.
--U.S. Census Bureau, “Hispanic Americans by the Numbers,” infoplease, 26 September 2007
68 percent of Hispanic women and 63 percent of African American say that the United States still needs a strong women’s movement compared with 41 percent of non-minority women.
Center for the Advancement of Women, Progress and Perils: New Agenda for Women, June 2003.
Research has shown that women with a secondary-level education give birth to one third to one half as many children as women with no formal education. For example, a woman in Honduras with no education has on average 4.9 children, whereas a woman in Honduras with a secondary-level education or higher has on average 2.2 children. Women who are educated generally have more control over their reproductive lives.
--"World Population Highlights 2007: Overview of World Population,” Population Reference Bureau, 26 September 2007,
“Nearly 63 percent of all people with HIV worldwide live in sub-Saharan Africa—25 million people.”
--Taken from, “World Population Highlights 2007: HIV/AIDS,” Population Reference Bureau, 26 September 2007, http://www.prb.org/Articles/2007/623HIVAIDS.aspx.
Offenders who kill whites are far more likely to receive the death penalty than those who kill non-whites.
--David Jacobs, et.al, “Who Survives on Death Row?: An Individual and Contextual Analysis,” American Sociological Review Vol. 72 (2007): 611. Download the article from the ACLU site.