The Census Bureau regularly releases various types of information and statistics. This post contains some of the statistics that have been released over the past few months.

“Unmarried moms”

The Bureau reports that about 6 in 10 recent moms in their early 20s are unmarried. The data, from the 2011 ACS, suggests that 62% of women age 20 to 24 who gave birth in the previous 12 months were unmarried. Compare this with 17% for women age 35 to 39. These numbers were also compared to education levels, which show that as education levels rise, the percent of births to unmarried women decline. The states with the highest percentages of unmarried mothers were Washington DC (51%), Louisiana (49%), Mississippi (48%) and New Mexico (48%). The states with the lowest percentages were Utah (15%) and New Hampshire (20%).  The writers of the report for the Census Bureau note that “..the increased share of unmarried recent mothers is one measure of the nation’s changing family structure…Nonmarital fertility has been climbing steadily since the 1940s and has risen even more markedly in recent years.”

 Per student education spending decreases

For the first time in nearly four decades, the amount of money spent per student in the US has decreased. The Census Bureau reports that this is the first time spending has decreased since it began collecting annual data in 1977. The 50 states and Washington DC spent $10,560 per student in 2011, which was down 0.4% from 2010.

Top state spenders:

• New York ($19,076)
• District of Columbia ($18,475)
• Alaska ($16,674)
• New Jersey ($15,968)
• Vermont ($15,925)

Lowest state spenders:

• Mississippi ($7,928)
• Arizona ($7,666)
• Oklahoma ($7,587)
• Idaho ($6,824)
• Utah ($6,212)

Connecticut public schools received $796,156 in revenue from Federal sources during the 2011 Fiscal year – however the state with the highest revenue from federal sources was California at $9,990,221 with Texas in second at $7,818,075. Revenue from state sources for Connecticut in 2011 was $3,171,891 in total, while for California it was $37,690,834 with New York in second at $23,188,002. See this news release for more information about expenditures and revenue for public schools.

arab households in the us 2006-2010

Another news brief issued by the Census Bureau gives a “national-level portrait” of US household, and specifically those with Arab ancestries. The brief uses American Community Survey data to determine Arab ancestry. For example, the survey asks for “ancestry or ethnic origin.” From responses collected, the Census Bureau considers anyone who reported being “Algerian, Bahraini, Egyptian, Emirati, Iraqi, Jordanian, Kuwaiti, Lebanese, Libyan, Moroccan, Omani, Palestinian, Qatari, Saudi Arabian, Syrian, Tunisian and Yemeni to be of Arab ancestry.”

The data itself shows that in the US, the population with Arab ancestry increased from 850,000 in 1990 to 1.2 million in 2000. The ACS data from 2006-2010 shows that an estimated 1.5 million people (0.5 percent of total population) with Arab ancestry now live in the US – a 76% increase since 1990. The number of households has also increased – from 268,000 in 1990 to 511,000 in 2010.

 economic characteristics of households in the US – 2011 (4th quarter)

And for all households in the US, the Census Bureau has released a set of tables that detail their economic characteristics for the 4th quarter of 2011. The available data ranges from median monthly household cash income to labor-force status, and receipt of benefits from selected means-tested noncash benefit programs.

Quarterly summary of state & local government tax revenue – 2013 (1st quarter)

The Census Bureau has released statistics for the first quarter of 2013 that detail the quarterly tax revenue statistics on property, sales, license, income and other taxes. Statistics are available for individual state governments as well as at the national level. Some of the categories broken down by state include various licenses, such as alcoholic beverages, hunting and fishing, and motor vehicles. Property, sales and gross receipts and income taxes are also included in the table.

Click here for an interactive visualization of taxes collected by state

Computer and internet use in the US

The Census Bureau has also released information about internet use within households, as well as the impact of smart phones. The report was written using data collected in a supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS) in July 2011. The supplement includes questions “about computer ownership, internet use both inside and outside the home, and the additional devices that people use to go online.” According to the report, the Census Bureau has asked questions related to computer use since 1984, and internet use since 1997.

As you may have guessed, computer use has changed drastically in Americans’ homes since 1984. In 2011, 75.6% of households reported having a computer – compared to 8.2% in 1984 and even 61.8% in 2003 (this surprised me). In 2011, 71.7% of households reported accessing the internet, while only 18% did so in 1997 – via that now nostalgic dial-up modem. Only 54.7% had access in 2003.

The report also discusses the disparities in internet use amongst different racial, ethnic, and even age groups in the United States. For example, in 2011, internet use was most common in households where the householder was between 35-44 years old (81.9%). Households that had householders over the age of 55 had much lower rates. Additionally, the report found that householders with higher levels of education also report higher rates of internet usage. For more detailed information, click the link above to access a PDF of the report.