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In 1960, 11% of men and 7% of women age 25-34 lived with their parents. What are today’s percentages?
a. 19% and 12%
b. 21% and 11%
c. 11% and 7%
d. 15% and 9%
And the answer is …
The answer is 19% and 12%.
In 1960, roughly 85% of men and women age 25-34 were married. Today’s figure is?
a. Roughly 40%
b. Roughly 47%
c. Roughly 52%
d. Roughly 77%
And the answer is …
The answer is roughly 40%. No wonder our fertility rate is now 1.59 — miles below its 1960 value of 3.65.
In 1960, there were about 10,000 movie theaters, about 4,000 of each were drive-ins. How many move theaters are there today?
a. Roughly 15,000
b. Roughly 10,000
c. Roughly 5,000
d. Roughly 4,000
And the answer is …
The answer is roughly 5000. But today’s number of movie screens is roughly 35,000. So, total movie screens have roughly tripled since 1960. Sadly, we only have abut 300 drive ins left.
How much higher is the median earnings of white males ages 40-49 compared with black males the same age?
a. 39%
b. 29%
c. 19%
d. 9%
And the answer is …
The answer is 39% higher — a massive differential.
Are Lake Powell and Lake Mead at their lowest ever water levels?
a. No
b. Yes
And the answer is …
The answer is yes. Indeed, Lake Powell’s water level may, in the next half year, be too low to generate hydroelectric power via the Glen Canyon Dam. The Dam provides power to 5 million households across the Southwest. The federal government has stood by and watched upper and lower basin states fight over water use for years. Their overuse plus sustained draught has finally led the feds to step in. The result will, it appears, be a 40 percent reduction in water supplied to Arizona, Nevada, and California from the Colorado River, which feeds both lakes.
What share of high school grads earn more than college grads in their forties?
a. 33%
b. 27%
c. 22%
d. 16%
e. 12%
And the answer is …
The answer is 16%. But it could rise dramatically given AI’s potential to eliminate so many college-grad jobs.
What share of Gen Z adults report not having had sex in the last year?
a. One half
b. One third
c. One quarter
d. One tenth
And the answer is …
The answer is one quarter, twice what it was 15 years ago.
How many rockets were launched into space from earth last year.
a. 27
b. 44
c. 77
d. 315
And the answer is …
The answer is 315.
What share of US adults subscribe to a physical or digital newspaper?
a. roughly 10%
b. roughly 20%
d. Roughly 30%
e. Roughly 50%
And the answer is …
The answer is roughly 20%. More are on Tiktok.
What was the population of the 13 colonies at the time of the Revolution?
a. roughly 100,000
b. roughly 500,000
d. Roughly 2.5 million
e. Roughly 3.7 million
And the answer is …
The answer is roughly 2.5 million. The population was 250,000 in 1700.
What was the solar plus wind share of all 2025 new US energy generation capacity?
a. 88%
b. 73%
c. 42%
d. 35%
e. 11%
And the answer is …
The answer is 88%.
This was an interesting set of questions, because the numbers tell a story that is sometimes more powerful than political arguments. The changes in marriage, living with parents, fertility, newspapers, energy and even movie theaters show how deeply American society has changed over the last several generations. Some of these changes are positive, some are worrying, and many are probably connected in ways we do not fully understand yet. I especially found the college versus high school earnings point interesting. If AI changes the labor market as much as many people expect, we may need to rethink what education, skills and a successful career really mean