Junk Statistics 11

Junk or not junk? This one seems trustworthy:

Between 2012 and 2017, sales of cacti and succulents rose 64% in America. (Times)

And these:

There are 500,000 giant redwoods in the UK, planted by the Victorians, and they are starting to outgrow neighbouring trees.

Just 6% of the total number of immigrants in the UK are asylum seekers. Just 37% of those arrive on small boats. Most commonly they are from Iran and Afghanistan. When assessed, the majority are judged ‘genuine’ and granted refugee status or other leave. Yet, parts of the electorate are somehow convinced that they are a major problem confronting all of our everyday lives. (@aljhlester)

Some good news in London, where the number of cycling trips has increased from 1.19 million a day last year to 1.26 million this year. (@TransportActio2)

The SNP has lost 32,000 members in less than 15 months. (March 2023)

Half of people in London don't have a vehicle. (And something like 10% don’t know a river runs through it.)

In the UK:

86% don’t want TW in Womens’ changing rooms.
83% don’t want TW in Women’s toilets.
79% don’t want TW in Rape crisis centres.
89% don’t want TW in Women’s sports
84%+ don’t want TW in Women’s’ prisons.

Women:

are +51% of the population
but +70% of the poor
and +83% of single parents
doing +66% of the work
producing +50% of the food
but earn just +11% of the pay
and only +1% of the land

But a car ad claims they make 60% of the buying decisions.

44% of the world’s gasoline is consumed by the US.

90% of homes in Israel use a solar water heater.

However:

33% Of Women Will Go On Dates Just For The Free Food. (eviemagazine.com)

Over 40% of adults in the UK are single. Sixty-three percent of men and 34 percent of women under 30 report being single, according to a Pew study.

"At age 45, on average, married men are making $37,138 a year more than single women, $35,479 more than single men and $33,849 more than married women." Report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. (@g_lamarche)

The brain needs 40 to 80 repetitions of something to form a neural connection.


50% of marriages do not fail. There was a period after no-fault divorce became legal that the divorce rate got that high because suddenly a lot of people who had wanted to divorce were able to. But that was temporary. The divorce rate is way lower now. (@PetticoatShrink)

The unprecedented high rate of modern divorce is sometimes blamed on the following factoid:

Historically, the average person had 2-3 beloved spouses die during war or childbirth. (@wil_da_beast630)

And, a historian points out, most researchers fail to take into account divorce rates at other times and in other cultures: medieval Muslim societies, and 19th Japan, experienced high divorce rates.

This reminds me of the paper I read where it looked at the archaeological record and estimated that historically only 20% of men reproduced (violence, disease, etc.) whereas nearly 100% of women reproduced. This implies that the 20% of men were fathering 100% of the children. (@sivori)

See also sexual partners in our day: men exaggerate the number, women reduce it.

60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.

3/10 go to university today. Most of them graduate with a 2:2 from a rubbish poly in 50k debt and then go and work in non grad jobs. (@LeoMars75. He earlier said their 2:2 is in “media studies”.)


More here and links to the rest.