Christian Counseling Connection
15
NEWS & NOTES
For the Record:
The Foster Report
Gary D. Foster, B.A.
These trends, facts, and emerging realities are influencing you and your clients’ world today!
WHAT MAKES A GOOD PARENT?
“Loving” is the #1 characteristic deemed mandatory for mothers (85%)
and fathers (79%). After “loving,” four of the next five characteristics are
shared, including “supporting,” “protecting,” “encouraging” and “in-
volved.” Only a third of these people appear to value parents modeling a
commitment to Christ to their children.
(
Baptist Press
5/7/13)
TEENS DRIVING IMPAIRED
Twenty-three percent of U.S. teens admit to driving at some point under
the influence of alcohol, marijuana or prescription drugs used illegally,
finds a SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) survey. Even worse,
almost 20% of those who drink and drive say it improves their driving, a
view shared by 34% of those who drive under the influence of marijuana.
(
USA Today
4/25/13)
SUICIDES TOP VEHICLE DEATHS
The suicide rate among middle-aged (35-64) Americans jumped 28% in
the last decade and now account for more deaths annually than vehicle
accidents, claims a new CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
report.
(
Christian Post
5/3/13)
TEXTING RELATED TO OTHER RISKY BEHAVIOR
In 2011, 45% of all students aged 16 and older reported they had texted
or e-mailed while driving during the past 30 days, reports the CDC. Those
texting while driving were five times more likely than those who did not
to drive when they had been drinking. The more they texted, the worse
their seat belt habits. They are also more likely to binge drink, use tobac-
co, use pot, use indoor tanning devices and have unprotected sex.
(
USA Today
4/13/13)
SINGLES MAJORITY
In 1960, 65.2% of taxpayers were married filing jointly or separately, and
34.8% were single filers or unmarried heads of households. In 2010, the
most recent year analyzed, 61% were single and just 39% were married.
(
NewsMax.com
5/5/13)
LONG COMMUTES SHORTEN LIFE
Swedish researchers have found workers with commutes of more than 30
miles die younger than those who live closer to their work. They are likely
to suffer higher blood pressure, stress and heart disease, plus take more
sick leave and gain more weight over their working lives.
(
Mail Online
4/13/13)
LOVE, MORTGAGE… THEN MARRIAGE
Millennial couples are more likely to buy a house together before they take
their wedding vows than previous generations, reports a Coldwell Banker
study. About 25% of 18 to 34 married homeowners bought a home togeth-
er before they were married vs. 14% of those 45 and older. “It’s almost like
buying a home is the new engagement ring,” says a Council on Contempo-
rary Families spokesperson.
(
USA Today
4/17/13)
PLURALS
(those born since 1997) are highly optimistic, but have been
profoundly impacted by recent economic uncertainties. They have wit-
nessed a culture that celebrated excess and have been through a recession
and a fledgling recovery. As a result, this generation is remarkably realis-
tic about what is achievable and feel they must follow the path that will
make them personally happy, according to iModerate’s Adam Rossow. Less
focused on materialistic goals, Plurals are varied in their ambitions and pa-
tient in their pursuit of them. They are the first generation of true “digital
natives.”
(
Online Media Daily
3/15/13)
SINGLES
(especially men) are increasingly turning to pets for love and a
sense of family, finds an American Veterinary Medical Association survey.
Pet ownership by singles (including never marrieds, and those who are
divorced or separated) jumped 16.6% from 46.9% in 2006 to 54.7% in
2011.
(
Marketing Daily
3/22/13)
COHABITATION: THE NEW NORM
For 48% of women 15-44, their “first union” was through cohabitation
rather than marriage, says a new National Center for Health Statistics re-
port. For just 23%, the first union was marriage. This compares with 34%
and 39% respectively in 2005. Within three years of cohabiting, 40% of
women had transitioned to marriage; 32% remained living together; and
27% had broken up. Seventy percent of women without a high school di-
ploma cohabited as a first union vs. 47% of those with a bachelor’s degree
or higher.
(
USA Today
4/4/13)
RETAIL THERAPY
According to new Ebates (an online cash back shopping Web site) data,
more than 63% of women and 39% of men shop to improve their mood.
(
Biz Report
4/3/13)
FAST FACTS:
•
The leading causes of newborn deaths are prematurity, birth complica-
tions and severe infections
•
Forty-eight percent of first births take place outside marriage… for
American high school dropouts, an astonishing 83% of first births are
outside marriage
•
For Americans with only a high school degree or some college, 58% of
first births occur outside marriage
•
There are 3.3 million teenage alcoholics among the 10-15 million total
number of alcoholics
•
It is estimated there are 176,000 stay-at-home dads in the U.S.—15%
of single parent households are headed by men
•
By 2018, the number of people over 60 in the U.S. will outnumber
children five and under for the first time
•
Places in the U.S. with higher death rates also have the highest rates of
smoking, teen births, physical inactivity and preventable hospital stays
•
Twenty-eight percent of older Americans serve as a caregiver for some-
one
•
About one in four U.S. adults suffers from a diagnosable mental disor-
der in any given year
•
Ninety percent of people who die by suicide in the U.S. have a diag-
nosable and treatable psychiatric disorder when they die
•
Roughly 50% of U.S. suicides in terminally ill patients are attributable
to untreated depression
•
In the U.S., women attempt suicide two to three times more than men,
but four times more men than women die by suicide
This information has been compiled and edited by
Gary
Foster
, President of Gary D. Foster Consulting. Contact him
at 419-238-4082 or
or visit www.
GaryDFoster.com.
