Income Growth in College-educated Households

A recent Pew Research Center report in FacTank, on the distribution of American household's income according to educational attainment, research associate, Richard Fry said that nearly one half of all income (49.7%) is paid to those household's headed by a person with at least a Bachelor's degree compared to 1991 when this group claimed only 37% of all income paid. The data are taken from the 2013 Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) of the Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the U. S. Census Bureau in February, March and April of 2013. The majority of these interviews were conducted as face to face interviews. Supplemental questions were asked of approximately 75,000 heads of households. 

The chart also indicates that, since 1991, those households headed by a person with "less than a high school diploma" have lost earning power, declining 7% from 12% to 5% of total income paid, and those households headed by a "high school graduate" declined 3% from 23% to 20% of total income paid. Households headed by an individual with "some college" has also seen their share of total income decline from 28% to 25%


Read more:
http://www.pewresearch.org/
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/09/24/the-growing-economic-clout-of-the-college-educated/
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/index.html
http://www.census.gov/
http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p60-245.pdf
http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/CollegeAdvantage.FullReport.081512.pdf
http://www.pewresearch.org/author/rfry/

Are Social Networking Sites Beneficial to Our Well-being?

Social networking sites are becoming very popular all over the world, connecting people to past friends, new acquaintances and even starting revolutions. In a survey by the Pew Research Center, they take a look at the changing face of social relationships and how they are affected by social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace. When these types of sites first came on the scene, the majority of users were pretty young. Those ages 23-35 still make up the majority of users, but the composition of these online communities is starting to shift and now includes many more people who are middle aged or older.

Another interesting finding is how social networking sites are changing the way people relate and interact with each other, including how many close friends they have, how their friends are supporting them emotionally, and how trusting they are. Those who use the Internet, mobile phones, and social networking sites are more likely to trust others than those who don't use the Internet at all. They also discovered that Facebook users have an average of 9% more close friends, and scored higher when asked how much they receive emotional support, companionship, and instrumental aid. They are also much more likely to be involved in political activities such as attending rallies and persuading others to vote.

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Who is to Blame for Failed Debt Negotiations?

As debt looms over our heads and the debt limit draws ever nearer, people are getting antsy and starting to point fingers at who they think is to blame for failed negotiations about raising the debt limit. In a survey of 1,003 Americans done by the Pew Research Center, most people agreed that the Republicans in Congress are to blame. When broken down into political affiliations, 58% of Republicans blame the Obama administrations, and only 22% blame Republicans. 72% of Democrats say that Republicans are to blame, while 34% place blame on the Obama administration. Independents are pretty neatly divided on the issue, with 34% blaming the Obama administration, and 36% blaming Republicans in Congress.

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Increasing Diversity in Largest Metros

SSDAN and Brookings Institution demographer Bill Frey analyzed data from Census 2010 and found that minorities comprise the majority in 32 of the 50 largest metro areas in America. Many cities, especially in the South and Southwest, are plurality black or plurality Hispanic, while others remain plurality but not majority non-Hispanic white. Cities in the great plains tend to remain majority white.

Within cities, minorities are increasingly following whites into the suburbs with 35% of suburban residents now minorities. Heavily concentrated in metro areas, Hispanics make up 26% of city dwellers, 17% of suburbanites and 16% of the population overall. Blacks make up 22% of city dwellers, 10% of suburbanites and 12% of the population overall. The Census Bureau itself predicts that the nation as a whole will be majority-minority by 2042 due to heavy immigration from Central America and higher birthrates among Hispanics than among non-Hispanic whites.

This graphic from the Wall Street Journal shows the plurality ethnic groups in the 100 largest metro areas in the United States. ZM cf