Dishwashers save time

If you hate the time it takes to wash dishes, invest in a dishwasher. A report by the Association of Home Appliance Manu­facturers says dishwashers save their own­ers an estimated 3.8 hours weekly, more for larger households. On a yearly basis, you can save 200 hours, the equivalent of a two-week vacation.

While those without dishwashers say they would like to have one in the future, they are not a priority item. Microwaves and VCRs are priority items because they are considered beneficial to the entire fam­ily and not just the wife and/or mother of the house, who is presumably the dish­washer. The prevailing attitude among the women surveyed was that the dish­washer was a benefit only to themselves. According to the report, "Many of the nonowners expressed a strong personal desire for a dishwasher but put other fam­ily members' needs and desires ahead of their own. In fact, they took pride in satisfying their own needs last."

More moms working

The number of mothers returning to work or starting jobs outside the home is growing and they're going back to work sooner after giving birth, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

In March, 1987, 52% of mothers with children one year-old or younger were working or looking for work, up from 43% five years previously and 32% in 1977. These figures are from the Labor Department's report on mothers and fami­lies in the workforce.

For mothers whose youngest child was between two and five years old, participa­tion in the labor force has also risen but not as much. Mothers in the work force whose youngest child was two years old com­prised 59% of the total and those whose youngest child was five years old made up 63%. In 1982, those ranges were, respectively, 52% to 57% and in 1977, 42% to 51%.

Generally, three-fifths of the country's children under 18 were in families with a working mother, a rise of 55% from the preceding five years and 48% in 1977. Among divorced mothers, who tend to be older, 80% were in the labor force and 56% of never-married mothers were in the work force.

Teachers affluent and responsive, study shows

Teachers are a surprisingly affluent, responsive and largely untapped group of consumers, a report by Market Data Re­trieval shows.

The report found that America's three million teachers have an average house­hold income that exceeds $50,000 a year and are almost 50% more likely to respond to mail and phone offers than the general public. The report also uncovered a number of unexpected statistics when teacher lifestyles were compared to those of other adults:

  • Teachers are 91% more likely to have spent over $500 on direct response pur­chases during the past 12 months.
  • Teachers are 93% more likely to have played tennis, 72% more likely to have skied and 61 % more likely to have played golf in the past year.
  • Teachers, many of whom do not qual­ify for social security, are more likely to invest in Money Markets (115% more likely), IRAs, (90% more) and Brokerage Accounts (59%more).
  • Heavy users of premium credit cards, teachers are more than twice as likely to have an American Express Gold Card.

With 185 days off a year, teachers also have more time for travel, leisure activi­ties and hobbies. More than 70% of teach­ers took a domestic trip in the past year and they are almost 60% more likely than other adults to belong to a health club. Their favorite hobbies are photography, music, personal computing and hiking.

The profile of teachers that emerges from the MDR study is of a large, sophisti­cated and active group of affluent con­sumers who are much more likely than other adults to spend their substantial dis­posable income in response to direct mar­keting. The study also notes that teachers are a fertile yet relatively under-exploited consumer group.

Market Data Retrieval, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dun & Bradstreet, special­izes in researching, compiling and publishing educational data.

Teens like TV, dislike commercials

Teens tune in TV more than any other medium but tune out most TV commer­cials, according to a study published by Teenage Research Unlimited.

TRU's Teenage Attitudinal Study sum­marizes the results of interviews with more than 2,000 persons aged 12-19. It probes their motivations, attitudes and opinions ibout various issues. Results indicate that although television commercials introduce teenagers to a wide variety of new prod­ucts, many of which they go on to pur­chase, commercials in general are not popular among the teen population.

"What the data indicate are that teens can be dramatically responsive to TV ad­vertising," says Peter Zollo, executive vice president of TRU. "But advertisers need to beware. Teens will only be responsive if advertising directed to them is developed with precision," explains Zollo. Television is the primary source of new product information for teenagers. Sixty-four percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement, "I learn a lot about new products from watching television," compared to only 37% for radio and 33% for magazines. Moreover, 36% of the teens admitted that after they see a product ad­vertised on television, they often go out and purchase it.

Many of the teens, however, expressed displeasure with the content of television advertising. Three-quarters of the respon­dents complained that TV commercials don't tell them what they'd like to know about products and 65% believe TV com­mercials talk down to teens.

Teenagers also seem to be taking advan­tage of modern electronics to avoid sitting through commercials they don't like. Nearly two-thirds of the teens reported channel-switching to avoid commercials. Video cassette recorders seem to make the practice of bypassing commercials even more widespread, with 98% of the sample indicating that when watching a videotape of a television program, they fast-forward through the commercials. Teenagers ex­press dissatisfaction with television commercials, but they seem generally satis­fied with the products being advertised. Seventy-seven percent of all teens sur­veyed agreed with the statement, "Ameri­can corporations make products with good value," a statistic that is high across all demographic categories.

So if teenagers don't like what they're seeing in television commercials, what do they like?

The findings of the TRU study indicate a strong belief in traditional values among the teen population: 84% of the teen©s surveyed enjoy spending time with their families; more than two-thirds believe in draft registration and a strong military, and 61% cite their religion as one of the most important parts of their lives.

Church membership

A 1987 Gallup audit shows that seven in 10 U.S. adults - 69% - claim they are members of a church or synagogue, the same figure as that in 1986.

Church or synagogue membership was shown to differ by gender. As in past years, the 1987 audit shows a higher pro­portion of women (75%) thanmen (63%). Membership increases steadily with age, from 62% of 18-29 year-olds to 76% among those 65 and older.

While education doesn't appear to be a major factor in church or synagogue mem­bership, sharp differences are bound by region, with Southerners more likely and Westerners less likely to be members.

The findings from this survey of 4,740 people are self-classifications, represent­ing the proportions of people who say they are members of a church or synagogue and therefore may include some who are not actually listed as members of a local church. Furthermore, it is necessary to add that adherentsof certain churches, forexample, the Roman Catholic and Eastern Ortho­dox, are considered members at birth.

Health care costs rising

In 1987, the cost of providing health care benefits to employees increased to an average of $1,985 per worker, according to a survey conducted by A. Foster Higgins & Co.

The survey of 2,016 corporate and gov­ernment employers found that their costs climbed 7.9% last year, an average of $128 per employee. In 1986, the average cost had risen 7.7%. For one-fifth of the surveyed employers, health costs rose 20% or more and for 6% of them, cost increases exceeded 30%. Director of the study, David Rahill, said "increases in the actual price of medical care supplied by doctors, hos­pitals or other providers are the funda­mental reason for the plan cost hikes."

The study, which examined employers with a total of 13 million employees, stressed the need for tighter cost-controls. Just 31% of the surveyed employers were able to hold costs constant or reduce them in 1987, the survey showed.

Sixty-one percent of the employers didn't require employees to contribute to their individual coverage but 88% did require their employees to pay a deduct­ible. About a third of the employers said they raised deductibles in the past two years, the study found.

Side dish choices

Corn is the favorite side dish at dinner, a survey by MRCA Information Services has found. The top luncheon side dish was potato chips and fruit was popular as a secondary choice at meals. Those over 55 were found to be the largest consumers of side dishes, eating 22% more of them than the average American. Typically, these are healthy side dishes, including vege­tables, fruit and salads.

Potatoes as side dishes are decreasing in popularity. Baked potatoes are now more popular than mashed, but French fries are still the top choice.

TV is favorite pastime

Watching TV is the favorite leisure ac­tivity among schoolchildren, while read­ing is the least preferred pastime, accord­ing to a survey conducted by Weekly Reader. The youngsters say they trust what they hear on TV more than what they read in newspapers, the survey says. Read­ing books is popular among those in the lower grades but that interest subsides by grades four to six.

Weekly Reader's survey of reading and TV habits was gathered from teacher sum­maries representing about 117,000 of more than 340,000 children who answered ques­tionnaires in class. The survey was not a statistically random sample whose results could be projected, but the sample was large enough to be taken as representative.

Newspaper reading was popular with 28% of second-graders but only 11% of fifth- and six-graders.

Asked what they usually do at home, 55% said watch TV, 14% said play, 14% talk on the telephone, 11% listen to the radio and 6% read.