Random Samplings

Education Tops Government Employment

Written by: Lisa Blumerman, US Census Bureau

According to statistics the U.S. Census Bureau released today, the 90,740 state and local governments across the country employed 16.6 million full-time equivalent workers in 2010.

What jobs do these employees perform? Some are police officers, others work in the court. In 2010, the majority of employees worked in the education field. Secondary and elementary education alone employed about 9.0 million people around the country.

Hospitals were the second largest employer of state and local employees (986,471); police protection was next (946,196), followed by corrections (731,692).

Overall, most states saw declines in state and local employment. Among state governments, Idaho, Connecticut and Rhode Island saw the largest declines in full-time equivalent employment, each losing about 5 percent of their workforce. Texas saw the largest percent increase (5.9 percent), adding about 17,800 to its workforce.

Among local governments, North Dakota saw the largest increase (7.5 percent) in employment, while Rhode Island showed the biggest decline (7.7 percent).

When we examined the composition of the growth in employment in North Dakota, we see that the majority is due to an increase in full-time instructional employees or teachers. In Rhode Island the decline in employment was driven largely by a reduction in instructional employees.

For more statistics about state and local government employment, including part-time employment, see the tables released today, click here.

Read the press release.

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Visualizing Income and Poverty Estimates

Written by: Wesley Basel and KaNin Reese, US Census Bureau

Recently the U.S. Census Bureau added interactive maps to the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates program's (SAIPE) website. This web-based interactive tool allows users to select, map, and display estimates of poverty by state, county and school district, and median household income by state and county.

The SAIPE program is the only source of poverty estimates for every county and school district based on the most recently available year of survey and auxiliary data. The school district poverty estimates are used by the U.S. Department of Education in the formula for allocating Title I funds, as directed by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Currently $14 billion are allocated to school districts for Title I purposes.

COUNTY MAP: United States

The default display when you first click on the SAIPE interactive map link is state-level poverty for all people. To display the county map, choose counties in the first dropdown on the upper left, then press the Go button.

In addition to the poverty estimate for all ages, the user may also select percent in poverty for under age 18 or ages 5-17 in families. One can also view the county-level data for median household income.

To see more detail on the interactive map, you can double-click to zoom in. There are also zoom controls below the map pane.  This snapshot emphasizes the ability to concentrate on a specific geographic area. In this case, the range of median household income in the St. Louis area is the focus. Note that when one hovers over an individual area, a pop-up balloon displays the name and estimates value for that specific area. Also the table of estimates displayed below the map pane is linked to the area being highlighted.

MULTIPLE STATE COUNTY MAP: St. Louis Metropolitan Area

The final snapshot depicts school district poverty estimates for children age 5 to 17 in families, which can be viewed for each individual state. In the drop-downs at the top of the map pane, select “Unified and Elementary Districts” from the left drop down, and then Texas (for e.g.) from the right. The zoom feature allows you to focus on a detailed portion of the state and the hover feature allows you to view poverty estimates from one school district to another, as well as displaying the name to help one locate a specific district.

Note also you can select different backgrounds for the map from the dropdown box at the lower right of the map pane. You can have a blank background to present a clearer picture of the poverty differences in the area, or you can display street view as shown below, to assist in placing the district boundaries in the context of streets and cities in the area.

SCHOOL DISTRICT MAP: Houston Independent School District, Texas

The SAIPE interactive mapping tool was released in May 2011 and features estimates from 2009. More options for downloading the 2009 SAIPE estimates are also available. SAIPE estimates for 2010 are planned for release in December 2011.

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How Long Do Marriages Last?

Written by: Diana Elliott, US Census Bureau

Many Americans stay married and have long marriages. Did you know that the median duration of American women's first marriages in 2009 was 20.8 years? Even when American women remarry, the median duration of their second marriages in 2009 was 14.5 years.

A new Census Bureau report titled Marital Events of Americans: 2009 examines marriage, divorce and widowhood in America. This report is the first of its kind to describe the detailed characteristics of Americans’ marital events using the American Community Survey. Because of the large sample size and geographic coverage of this survey, this report looks at comparisons of marital events among small groups and across the 50 states.

Women in the mid and southern parts of the U.S. were among those with the longest first marriages in 2009. Twenty-seven states had median durations of marriages significantly longer than the U.S. median of 20.8 years. Women in both eastern and western states were among those with shorter first marriages in 2009. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia had median durations of first marriages significantly shorter than the U.S. median.

Thirteen states had longer second marriages in 2009 than the U.S. median of 14.5 years. Seven of the states with significantly longer marriages were in the South (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas). Twelve states and the District of Columbia had shorter second marriages than the U.S. median in 2009.

Why do women in some states have longer first and second marriages than other states? As discussed in this new report, marriages tend to happen at younger ages in states with longer marriages. If couples marry when they are younger and stay married, they will celebrate more anniversaries together.

If you are interested in such facts and figures about marriage in America, the Marital Events of Americans: 2009 report has much more to offer. Academics, students, the media, and the interested public will discover how the demographics about marriage, divorce and widowhood in this report provide considerable insight into family life in America today.

Read the press release.

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Visualizing Foreign Trade Data

Starting this month, with the release of the June 2011 trade data, the U.S. Census Bureau introduced the Foreign Trade Graph of the Month. Each month will feature a new graph highlighting interesting data points or series about U.S. exports and imports.

This month's graph highlights the price per barrel of crude oil imports, including a 43% increase in price since January 2010, and 8 straight months of increases before June's decrease of $2.70. 

Also, be sure to check out our monthly summary and time series graphs, featuring trade breakdowns by end-use commodities, top trading partners, and petroleum imports.

Hover over any data point on any graph to see the value; many graphs feature interactive legends or click-throughs to more data, and can be downloaded as an image or PDF file. Explore and have fun!

If you have any suggestions for data you'd like to see featured in a Foreign Trade Graph of the Month, please let us know. Post a comment below.

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“The Most Important 20 Minutes of Your Day”

Written by: Lynda Laughlin

A national nonprofit group, The Children’s Reading Foundation, calls the time parents devote daily to reading to their young children “the most important 20 minutes of your day.” When parents read to their children, it is commonly believed they not only have the opportunity to positively interact with them but also to foster strong, lifelong reading practices.

Findings from the Survey of Income and Program Participation show that in 2009, half of children 1 to 5 years old were read to seven or more times a week by a family member. While frequency of reading interactions is still more common among families above poverty, reading interactions among low-income families have increased over the last 10 years.

In 1998, 37 percent of 1- to 2-year-olds who were below poverty were read to by a family member seven or more times a week. By 2009, the percent increased to 45 percent. Parental reading interactions also increased over time for 3- to 5-year-olds. In 2009, 40 percent were read to seven or more times a week by a family member, an increase from 34 percent in 1998. Most of the increase since 1998 occurred by 2000 and has remained between 45 and 40 percent for both age groups.

On the other hand, more than half of children 1 to 5 years old (54 percent) who were living at or above the poverty line were read to seven or more times per week. The frequency of parental reading interactions among 1- to 2-year-olds in 2009 was 56 percent, not statistically different from 1998. Patterns of reading interactions for 3- to 5-year-olds increased from 50 percent in 1998 to 53 percent in 2004 before settling around 52 percent in 2009.

Additional indicators of child well-being, such as the frequency of parents praising their children or eating meals with them, participation in extracurricular activities, and academic experience, are available in a series of detailed tables released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Read the press release.

Census Bureau data on children.

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