Cost of births is increasing

Like most things these days, the cost of becoming a parent is rising. According to a survey by the Health Insurance Association of America, the total cost of a normal delivery in a hospital delivery room averaged $2,560 in January, 1986. For an uncomplicated Caesarean delivery, the cost was $4,270. More than one woman in five in the U.S. has a Caesarean these days. Based on the association's last survey in 1982, these figures reflect a cost increase of 28% for Caesareans and 25% for normal deliveries.

Older Americans prefer U.S. cars

Older Americans prefer domestic car models like Lincolns or Buicks, while younger, more educated and affluent Americans opt for foreign makes like Subarus, Acuras or Saabs. Those where two of the findings from a recent J.D. Power & Associates survey of 25,000 U.S. car buyers in 1987. The Agoura
Hills, Cal., firm found:

  • Buyers of domestic cars are 12 years older than buyers of Asian imports and 11 years older than buyers of European cars.
  • Only one-third of the buyers of domestic cars are professionals or executives, compared with at least 40% of import buyers.
  • About 60% of the buyers of European cars have college degrees, compared with 50% of those who buy Asian imports, and 40% of those who buy domestic cars.
  • Saab owners are usually college graduates; Yugo and Volkswagen drivers are the youngest; Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz buyers have the highest median household incomes; many Porsche and Alfa Romeo owners are corporate executives.
  • Peugeots, Volkswagens and Volvos are preferred by female drivers. The median price paid by new car buyers last was $12,850,up $1,650 from the $11,200 car buyers paid in 1985, the survey also found.

Innovation hindered

More than half of 36 surveyed managers believe their corporations hinder rather than help innovation within the company, consultant United Research Co. reports. Just a third considered them helpful and the remainder showed mixed feelings that appeared to indicate little corporate dedication to chaning the status quo. The roadblocks to improvement, suggests studies by Standard & Associates, an industrial-psychology firm, are immediate line supervisors. Workers overwhelmingly believe top managers support efforts to boost quality and productivity and the workers themselves believe it. However, less than half of the workers think their immediate line supervisors are as committed as the CEO to doing things right.

Bare facts

Researchers at Gillette Safety Razor Co. say that during an average lifetime a man will remove about 27ft. of whiskers from his face through shaving. About 3,350 hours would be needed to remove the whiskers and if a man never shaved the beard would be almost 30 ft. long.

Comic readers

Thirty-nine percent of adults are regular comic readers, a survey by TeleNation shows. Readership is highest in the Midwest and lowest in the West. Only 25% of those aged 25-34 are funny page readers; otherwise it is fairly constant across age groups, across income categories, and by sex. Forty-four percent of those with a post-graduate education are regular comic readers. Their two favorites are Garfield and Peanuts. TeleNation, an operation of Market Facts, Inc., Chicago, is a service that delivers a national cross-section sample of 1,000 interviews every weekend.

Employee owners emphasize quality

Workers at employee-owned companies work harder and pay more attention to quality than workers at non-employee owned firms, according to a recent nationwide public opinion poll conducted by R.H. Bruskin Associates, New Brunswick, N.J. Furthermore, more than half of the workers say they are willing to trade their next wage hike for a share of ownership in their firm. The poll was commissioned by the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., (BNA), and the National Center for Employee Ownership. The poll found that 80% of respondents thought workers at employee-owned companies paid more attention to quality than workers at non-employee owned firms; 7% disagreed. Sixty-nine percent thought workers at employee-owned firms work harder, 18% disagreed. Of all workers surveyed, 51% said they would be willing to trade their next wage increase for a share of company ownership; 30% said they would not make the trade. The BNA-Bruskin study was based on 1,001 telephone interviews with adults throughout the U.S.Â