On MLK Day, a look at black and white America
Nearly 47 years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, blacks and whites in the United States in many ways continue to live starkly different lives.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Social Trends
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For most highly educated women, motherhood doesn’t start until the 30s
More than half (54%) of mothers near the end of their childbearing years with at least a master’s degree had their first child after their 20s. In fact, one-fifth didn’t become mothers until they were at least 35. Some 28% became moms in their late 20s, and 18% had children earlier in their lives.
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Job shifts under Obama: Fewer government workers, more caregivers, servers and temps
The healthcare industry, food and drink establishments and temp services have driven most of the jobs growth since Barack Obama took office nearly six years ago.
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Women and Leadership
Most Americans say women are every bit as capable of being good leaders as men, whether in political offices or in corporate boardrooms. So why, then, are they underrepresented in top jobs?
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114th Congress is most diverse ever
Almost one-in-five members of the House and Senate are a racial or ethnic minority, making the 114th Congress the most diverse in history. However, Congress remains disproportionately white when compared with the U.S. population, which has grown increasingly diverse in recent decades.
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Will GOP-run Congress lead to more Obama vetoes? History suggests yes
Some political observers predict that Obama will be using his veto pen a lot more in his last two years in office than he did in the first six. Recent history indicates that presidents do veto more bills when both houses of Congress are controlled by the opposing party.
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GOP Congress takes over amid public pessimism about an end to divisions
The new GOP-controlled Congress takes office at a time when the American public sees partisan rifts in the country getting worse.
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In late spurt of activity, Congress avoids ‘least productive’ title
An unusually active lame duck session enabled the 113th Congress to avoid its predecessor’s record for legislative unproductivity.
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Fewer than half of U.S. kids today live in a ‘traditional’ family
Just 46% of U.S. kids under 18 are living in a home with two married heterosexual parents in their first marriage, a marked change from 1960.
