Gender Differences in Employment Worldwide

In a recent report from Gallup World, it was found that, worldwide, men are almost twice as likely to have a "good" job than women. The report shows that 34% of men report having a good job compared to 18% of women who report the same. Gallup defines a "good' job as one that requires full-time work for an employer. The data for this report were gathered from 2005/2006 through 2013 in face to face or landline telephone interviews of 225,975 individuals aged 15 and older throughout the world. 

The table shows that women's highest deficit in full-time employment are in South Asia (-26%) and Non-EU Europe (-22%), while Sub-Sarahan Africa has the lowest deficit (-7%) followed by the Commonwealth of Independent States (-8%).  The deficit for women in Northern America stands at -19%. 

themostsearched.org offers several teaching/learning tools on the topics of worldwide employment and gender in employment: Gallup's Global Tracking Tool, Employment to Population Ratio , and Occupational Segregation and Earning Differences .

Read more:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/164666/globally-men-twice-likely-women-good-job.aspx
http://www.gallup.com/home.aspx?ref=logo
http://www.gallup.com/poll/world.aspx?ref=logo

themostsearched.org Resources:
http://themostsearched.org/resource/3898
http://themostsearched.org/resource/2936
http://themostsearched.org/resource/3109

Cost of Raising Children

In a recent CNN/Money article, Melanie Hicken reports that it will cost a middle class family an estimated $241,080 to raise a child from birth through age 18 years. This estimate does not include the cost of college. The findings are based on data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and show a 3% increase over 2011. The USDA tracks costs for items such as housing, transportation, food, child care, and others.

The article is accompanied by an interactive tool which allows the user to examine change in expenses over time and by year, region of the country and class.

Read more:
http://money.cnn.com/2013/08/14/pf/cost-children/index.html
http://money.cnn.com/interactive/pf/cost-of-children/?sr=fb081513costraisekid5p/gallery/pf/2013/08/14/cost-of-children/index.html?sr=fb081513costchildren

Little Progress Made in Reducing Obesity Levels

Gallup reports that despite public campaigns aimed at encouraging healthy eating habits and reducing high levels of obesity, it appears that much more work is needed to combat the current health crisis. There were small changes in obesity levels from 2011 to 2012, with obesity increasing by 0.7% from 2011 to 2012. It is estimated that as of 2012, 26.2% of Americans are obese, 36.1% are overweight, and a little more than a third were a normal weight. These results are especially troubling, since obesity rates were expected to decline given that a higher percentage of Americans claimed to exercise frequently and more believed that obesity was a paramount public health issue.

Obesity levels varied by socioeconomic status, race, region, and gender. According to Gallup's study, 20.4% of those with incomes under $36,000 identified as obese. Among those with annual incomes above $90,000, only 21.2% were obese. African Americans continue to have the highest levels of obesity, with 34.9% reporting that they are obese. This is 8% higher than obesity levels among Hispanics, and nearly 10% higher than obesity levels among whites. Obesity levels are also highest in the South, with 28.1% surveyed reporting that they are obese, followed by 27.4% among people in the Midwest, 25% in the East, and 23.2% on the West Coast. Lastly, obesity levels were higher among men, with roughly 27.3% reporting that they are obese compared to 25% of women.

Causes of Stress in Regions of the U.S.

The American Psychological Association recently released the 2011 results of their annual nationwide survey, “Stress in America.”  One portion of the report discusses the causes of “somewhat/very significant” levels of stress reported in each region of the United States in which those surveyed were asked to indicate the level of stress each of the listed sources of stress caused in their lives.  Overall, money, work, and the economy were the largest causes of stress with 75%, 70% and 67% reporting that each respective factor was a cause of “somewhat/very significant” levels of stress.  Among the four regions, those on the East Coast reported the most stress caused by money (80%), work (74%), and relationships (66%).  Those in the Midwest reported the most stress caused by the economy (72%) and personal health concerns (59%).  Southerners, on the other hand, reported the most stress from family responsibilities (62%) and health problems affecting family members (65%).  Westerners reported the lowest amount of stress caused by everything except for work, where it reported slightly more stress than those in the South (69% and 67% respectively).