A summary of some notable trends from the Harper’s Index over the past two months.
Percentage of US adults who describe their health as “excellent”: 25
Percentage change since 2019 in the number of Americans who describe their mental health as “excellent”: –21
Percentage increase since 2019 in ER visits for suicide attempts by adolescent boys: 4
By adolescent girls: 51
Portion of therapists who say their clientele has increased since the start of the pandemic: 9/10
Who have been forced to decrease their hours because of personal issues: 1/5
Minimum portion of Americans aged 18 to 25 who are extremely lonely nearly all of the time: 3/5
Amount spent, per year, to incarcerate someone in a New York City jail: $556,539
Amount spent last November on a private island in the metaverse: $398,685
Factor by which PR specialists outnumber journalists in the United States: 6
Percentage of people alive today who have never used the internet : 37
Minimum number of U.S. immigration history requests held up because of pandemic rules on records storage: 350,000
Portion of Americans who have favorable views of both capitalism and socialism: 1/5
Who have unfavorable views of both capitalism and socialism: 1/5
Percentage of Americans who approve of labor unions: 68
Percentage change since 2019 in U.S. labor union membership: –4
Estimated percentage decrease in U.S. condom sales since the start of the pandemic: 8
Portion of Americans earning less than $50,000 who cite wedding costs as a reason for not marrying: 3/10
Number of the one hundred most-watched TV broadcasts last year that were NFL games: 92
Factor by which Americans spent more time listening to the radio last year than to podcasts: 6
Amount of time, in years, viewers spent watching livestreams of Grand Theft Auto V on Twitch last year: 214,309
Minimum number of total views for TikTok videos tagged with #MentalHealth: 25,100,000,000
Portion of U.S. adults who have struggled with basic decisions like what to eat or wear since the start of the pandemic: 1/3
Of U.S. millenials: 1/2
Portion of U.S. adults who say their closets contain many things they will never wear again: 3/4
Percentage decrease in spending on dental care since the start of the pandemic: 9.5
Portion of U.S. pet owners who say they take their pet’s health more seriously than their own: 7/10
Who have sought acupuncture for their pet: 4/10
Who have purchased CBD products for their pet: 3/10
Minimum number of dogs in the United States on anti-anxiety medication: 10,350,000
Of cats: 1,800,000
Minimum number of hamsters executed by the Hong Kong government because of COVID-19 exposure: 2,229
Visits: 87