From my favorite government agency…

Facts and figures for all sorts of great stories.

World Statistics Day: Oct. 20

http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/

The United Nations General Assembly designated Oct. 20, 2010, as the first-ever World Statistics Day to highlight the role of official statistics and the many achievements of national statistical systems.

Statistical organizations throughout the world will celebrate World Statistics Day at the national and regional level. The census, the U.S. Census Bureau and 13 other principal federal statistical agencies together have been collecting statistics about the nation’s people, economy and society since 1790.

Stats for Kids

74.5 million

The number of children under 18 in the U.S. in 2009.

Source: 2009 population estimates http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/natasrh.html

84 percent

Percent of children who ate dinner with a parent five or more times per week in 2006.

Source: A Child’s Day: 2006 http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p70-118.pdf

70 percent

The percent of children under 18 who lived with both parents in 2009.

Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam.html

59 percent

The percent of children ages 6 to 11 who were highly engaged in school in 2006. The index for measuring a child’s engagement in school is based on whether a child is interested in schoolwork, whether a child works hard in school and whether the child likes school.

Source: A Child’s Day: 2006 http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p70-118.pdf

56 percent

Percent of children who are subject to family television rules, such as limiting what programs they may watch, what times they may watch and how many hours they may watch television.

Source: A Child’s Day: 2006 http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p70-118.pdf

42 percent

Percent of children ages 6 to 17 who participated in sports in 2006.

Source: A Child’s Day: 2006 http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p70-118.pdf

33 percent

Percent of children ages 6 to 17 who participated in extracurricular clubs in 2006.

Source: A Child’s Day: 2006 http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p70-118.pdf

5.3 million

Estimated number of “stay-at-home” parents in 2009 in the United States: 5.1 million mothers and 158,000 fathers.

Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam.html

Stats for Everyone

310 million*

Estimated current U.S. population. We reached 300 million in 2006, 200 million in 1967 and 100 million in 1915. When our nation achieved independence in 1776, we had a population of only 2.5 million.

*National and state population counts from 2010 Census data will be released by Dec. 31, 2010.

Source: U.S. and World Population Clocks  http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html

155.6 million

The number of women in the U.S. in 2009. Overall, the U.S. had more women than men (151.4 million). In a few states, however, men outnumbered women, such as Alaska where there were 362,000 men and 336,000 women.

Source: 2009 Population Estimates http://www.census.gov/popest/states/asrh/ and http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/

36.9 million

The number of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2009, which was eight times the population of Ireland itself (4.5 million).

Source: 2009 American Community Survey http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-_caller=geoselect&-state=dt&-format=&-mt_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G2000_B04006 and Ireland Central Statistics Office http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/population/current/popmig.pdf

70,490

The estimated number of centenarians (100 years old or more) in the U.S. in 2009. Projections indicate that in 2050, the number will be more than 600,000.

Source: 2009 Population Estimates http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/2009-nat-res.html Projections http://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/downloadablefiles.html

58 percent

The percent of female advanced degree holders among ages 25 to 29 in 2009.

Source: Current Population Survey: 2009 Educational Attainment http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/

85 percent

The percent of people 25 or older who held at least a high school degree in 2009.

Source: 2009 American Community Survey http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-qr_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_S1501&-geo_id=01000US&-ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-format=&-CONTEXT=st

28 percent

The percent of people 25 or older who held at least a bachelor’s degree in 2009.

Source: 2009 American Community Survey  http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-qr_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_S1501&-geo_id=01000US&-ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-format=&-CONTEXT=st

28 percent

The percent of householders who rated their homes a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 in 2009.

Source: 2009 American Housing Survey http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/ahs/ahs.html

25.1 minutes

The national mean travel time to work in 2009.

Source: 2009 American Community Survey  http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-qr_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_S0801&-geo_id=01000US&-ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-format=&-CONTEXT=st

24.3 pounds

Per capita candy consumption in 2009.

Source: Current Industrial Reports, Confectionery: 2009 http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/cir/historical_data/ma311d/index.html

Statistical Agencies

230

The U.S. Census Bureau website includes links to more than 200 international statistical agencies. Visit them by clicking the link below.

Source: http://www.census.gov/aboutus/stat_int.html

14

Number of U.S. principal statistical agencies. They are the Bureau of Economic Analysis; Bureau of Justice Statistics; Bureau of Labor Statistics; Bureau of Transportation Statistics; U.S. Census Bureau; Economic Research Service; Energy Information Administration; National Agricultural Statistics Service; National Center for Education Statistics; National Center for Health Statistics; Office of Environmental Information; Social Security Administration Office of Research Evaluation and Statistics; National Science Foundation: Science Resources Statistics; and the Internal Revenue Service’s Statistics of Income Division.

Source: Office of Management and Budget Statistical Programs of the United States Government http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/information_and_regulatory_affairs/10statprog.pdf

Statisticians

29,208

Number of statisticians employed in the United States in 2009.

Source: 2009 American Community Survey http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-_caller=geoselect&-state=dt&-format=&-mt_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G2000_B24124

20 percent

Percent of statisticians employed by the federal government, with most of them concentrated in the Departments of Commerce, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services in 2008. Another 10 percent worked for state and local governments.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos045.htm

13 percent

Projected growth of employment of statisticians from 2008 to 2018.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos045.htm

$72,820

Median annual wage for statisticians in May 2009.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics  http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes152041.htm#nat

Special Editions of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Facts for Features are issued to provide background information for lesser-known observances, anniversaries of historic events and other timely topics in the news.

Note: Facts for Features are customarily released about two months before an observance in order to accommodate magazine production timelines.

Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau’s Public Information Office: telephone: 301-763-3030; fax: 301-763-3762; or e-mail: pio@census.gov.

For more information about the U.S. Census Bureau, please visit http://www.census.gov/ and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr and YouTube (/uscensusbureau).

Update: I made an error in using the term “of Brazilian descent” when discussing the Census Bureau data. The number cited below are those born in Brazil. To be clear, the Census Bureau does not ask a persons residency status.

First posted at Journalism, Journalists and the World

Part 1

Here’s to Boston.Com for understanding that an important election 5,000 miles away has an important local angle.

Today (10/3) Brazilians went to the polls to elect a successor to the highly popular Lula. In Brazil about 95% of the 132 eligible voters went to the polls. (Voting is mandatory.)

And Brazilians overseas also got into the act. Local polling stations were set up in Paris and Tokyo. (I know this because Brazilian media reported it.)

And in Framingham, Mass.

Megan McKee filed a story about how the voting was going in Framingham:

Brazilians flock to the polls in Framingham for presidential election

Was it really that difficult for her to do that story?

I doubt it. All it took was paying attention to what was going on in her LOCAL area.

And suddenly she has a LOCAL story with a significant INTERNATIONAL angle. Or an international story with a local angle. (Take your pick.)

Bottom line is that Ms. McKee should be congratulated for seeing something in her area that other reporters in their areas have not seen.

Hers is the only — yes, ONLY — story I have seen so far about Brazilians voting in the United States.

Now, she did base her estimate on how many Brazilians in New England on the word of one of the Brazilian parties. She could have gone to the Census Bureau for a more unbiased account.

The 2009 American Survey shows that in Massachusetts, there are 69, 122 people born in Brazil. of Brazilian origin. Of that number. 78% are 18 or older, and therefore eligible to vote. (If they are Brazilian citizens.)

Nationwide there are 359,149 people who were born in Brazil of Brazilian descent and 75.7% are 18 or older.

BTW, statistically the number of those of Brazilian descent in Virginia is so low that the Census Bureau does not count them.

Part 2

The really sad part about this story, however, are the hateful and ignorant comments made to the article. These two are a good sampling of many of the comments made against people exercising their right to vote.

Besides being bigoted, these folks show a complete lack of understanding what is going on.

It is because of the ignorance of people like this that it is so much more important that LOCAL reporters find the GLOBAL story in LOCAL events.

truthnaturally wrote:

This should NOT be allowed. Americans (the real tru ones) have fought life and limb for the rights to vote and along comes this bunch of bubble butts and they get to vote in two….its not right, if you are here in America, whats the point of making changes in your own country (dont say family) I dont get to vote in your country! If want to change your countries politics, stop raping mine and go back.

10/3/2010 5:48 PM EDT

DisinterestedObserver wrote:

Hopefully, the Town of Framingham is making sure the Brazilian government is paying the utilities, double time rate overtime costs of the custodial staff and police details, and any other miscellaneous costs plus a hefty markup to allow a foreign election to be held at an American high school. There should be absolutely no costs associated with this election that aren’t billed to and paid for the Brazilian government. Also, is INS there to check if the Brazilian voter are legal US residents? Finally, why should American citizens be inconvenienced by a 1 mile traffic backup?

The Census Bureau has a new blog service called Random Samplings. The purpose of the blog, says the Bureau, is to make the data more accessible to everyone.

I have long argued that the Census Bureau is a gold mine of free data that can help make most stories really shine. Using the data is also a great way to find ideas for feature stories.

The problem has always been understanding the numbers in greater depth.

Think about it.

When you hear the numbers from the Census Bureau about income, earnings, housing, etc., what do they all mean? This blog seems to be a good version of Census Numbers 101.

The first entry is all about the difference between income and earnings.

Give it a try.

Yep, today (9/24) is indeed National Punctuation Day. And as all good journalists know, where we place a comma or apostrophe is important.

Yet, sometimes we get it wrong. Good thing many of us work with good editors who catch those mistakes that would make us look bad.

Such as the headlines to the right from Apostrophe Abuse:

So, journalists, go hug your copy editor in honor of today.

While I applaud the efforts of the folks at National Punctuation Day, they are causing some problems.

Punctuation Man breaks with Associated Press,endorses serial comma

Well, to each his own on this issue at least.

First posted at the web site of the Washington, DC Society of Professional Journalists.

This may not be an issue that directly affects international coverage but the impact of this so-called debate reaches beyond the borders of the US of A. It is worthwhile looking at the logic behind the reasoning for the AP decision.

Associated Press editor Tom Kent sent out a memo late last week with new guidance on how — under AP Style — reporters should refer to the mosque proposed for lower Manhattan.

(You can read the memo here and Kent’s discussion of the memo on Facebook.)

Bottom line: It is NOT the “ground zero mosque” and the site under question has been used for prayers for some time already.

The site of the proposed Islamic center and mosque is not at ground zero, but two blocks away in a busy commercial area. We should continue to say it’s “near” ground zero, or two blocks away.

Kent added:

It may be useful in some stories to note that Muslim prayer services have been held since 2009 in the building that the new project will replace. The proposal is to create a new, larger Islamic community center that would include a mosque, a swimming pool, gym, auditorium and other facilities.

In his Facebook discussion, Kent said:

Incidentally, our note today represented no change in the way we’ve been writing about this case. The vast majority of our stories in recent weeks have referred to a mosque “near” ground zero, or “two blocks away.” But a few of our headlines have said “ground zero mosque,” and we felt that term wasn’t as specific as it could be.

So, can we move on and start using the correct term for the mosque, make sure we have the location correct and make sure the whole thing is put into context.