PERCENTAGES AND NUMBERS
THE NEFF ZONE -- BY JIM NEFF
CADILLAC NEWS -- FEBRUARY 25, 2023
There are quite a few studies and reports in the news. Many of these tell us a lot about ourselves. The percentages and numbers can sometimes reveal interesting conclusions.
For example, when we're young we have a perception of what we want to be as adults. A study looked at what Gen Z (ages 11-26) wants to be when they grow up. “The most popular careers among young people are those with high-income potential. They see that as the best way to achieve personal fulfillment and happiness. Gen Z-ers surveyed said their top career goals were businessperson, doctor and engineer.”
However, there's a sidestep on the way to achieving those goals. “Gen Z is also driving the quiet-quitting trend, with eighty-two percent of them saying the idea of doing the minimum required to keep their jobs is pretty or extremely appealing.”
(https://www.axios.com/2023/01/21/genz-careers-boomers-millennial)
When it comes to work, a new study produced some rather surprising findings. It concluded: “A major trial of four-day work week results in better employees and higher revenue. A four-day working week leaves employees happier and makes businesses richer.”
The percentages don't lie. “The world’s largest trial on the concept, saw sixty-one companies cut down their staff's working hours by twenty percent. That resulted in employees taking sixty-five fewer sick days and there were fifty-seven percent fewer staff resignations. The trial also saw revenues increase by 1.4 percent.”
Ninety-two percent of companies who participated in the program plan to keep the four-day working week. “When you realize that day has allowed you to be relaxed and rested, and ready to absolutely go for it on those other four days, you start to realize that to go back to working on a Friday would feel really wrong – stupid actually.” (https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/four-day-work-week-trial-study-results-000150574.html)
Working remotely has also been found to be a viable option, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. “Working from home saved workers around the world an average of seventy-two minutes in commute time every day in 2021 and 2022. And many of them plowed that time right back into working more.”
Work flow comes into play here. “The data underscores that the benefits of remote work flow both to employees and employers. “Forty percent of workers used the time saved to work on either a primary or secondary job, thirty-four percent used the time for leisure activities, and eleven percent went to care giving, for children or others. Working from home gives people more autonomy over their time during the day.” (https://www.axios.com/2023/01/24/remote-work-saved-workers-72-minutes-per-day-study-finds)
It's nice if all that work produces higher compensation. A report from Smart Asset tells us what it takes to be in the top one percent of earners in each state. “The average American household earns a median income of under $70,000, but in some places, the top one percent can earn as much as $974,000.”
The state where it takes the most to be considered a one-percenter is Connecticut. Residents would need to earn roughly $955,000 to be in the top one percent. Connecticut residents need to earn at least $336,800 to fall into the top five percent.”
The sate at the bottom of the scale is West Virginia. “The lowest threshold needed to be a top one percent taxpayer is $374,712. The top five percent in West Virginia is roughly $190,700. “
Michigan finished in the middle of the pack at number thirty-two. You need to earn $511,200 to land in the top one percent and $225,700 to be in the top five percent. (https://smartasset.com/data-studies/what-it-takes-to-be-in-the-1-by-state-2023)
If you are at the top on the money mountain it's cause to celebrate and if you're at the bottom you may wish to drown your sorrows. In either case, a report about alcohol consumption comes into play.
“The percentage of U.S. adults aged eighteen and older who say they drink alcohol averaged sixty-three percent over the past two years, whereas thirty-six percent described themselves as total abstainers.”
Those numbers have stayed close to the same since 1939 when Gallup began its poll. “Across the trend, the percentage saying they drink has dipped as low as fifty-five percent (in 1958) and risen as high as seventy-one percent (in the 1970s). However, in recent decades, the U.S. drinking rate has consistently registered near the long-term average of sixty-three percent. On the whole, U.S. drinkers reported consuming a modest amount of alcohol in 2022, averaging four drinks per week for all drinkers.”
About those four drinks per week, you may wonder what Americans choose to imbibe. “For many years, beer was the strong favorite of U.S. drinkers. It still leads, but by a thinner, four-percentage-point margin over wine, thirty-five percent to thirty-one percent. Meanwhile, thirty percent favor liquor, a new high.” (https://news.gallup.com/poll/467507/percentage-americans-drink-alcohol.aspx)
It's not too surprising that wine is making new inroads. “There’s no denying that Americans love their wine. With nearly three thousand vineyards across the country and at least one in every state, U.S. citizens certainly have their pick. The United States is also the world’s largest importer of wine, bringing in approximately $5.9 billion worth every year. The nation consumes just shy of one billion gallons annually.”
The state that consumes the most wine is California drinking 156 million gallons in 2020. The populous states of Florida, Texas, New York, and Illinois followed behind to round out the top five wine-drinking states.”
To see the wine consumption in overall gallons and per capita, check out the Vine Pair map at: https://vinepair.com/articles/map-states-drink-wine-america-2022/. In case you're wondering, Michigan came in tenth at 27.3 million gallons.
Jim Neff is a local columnist. Read Neff Zone columns online at CadillacNews.com and NeffZone.com/cadillacnews.
