From 2019 to 2022, the median net worth, or wealth, for American families surged 37% — the largest jump since the Fed began keeping track — as Americans received aid from the federal government while stock and home values soared. The Fed's latest survey results, which are released every three years, found that surge was not the start of a new trend. (Barber, USA Today)
Read MoreFewer than four in 10 college students believe freedom of speech is secure in the United States today, according to a new study from the Knight Foundation. It's a decade-low level that marks a significant decline since 2016, when nearly three-fourths of college students said the same. (Frank, USA Today)
Read MoreThe “Sunday scaries” have become such a fixture of Americans’ weekends that Merriam-Webster added the term to its online dictionary last month. Its definition: a feeling of anxiety or sadness one may feel when the weekend is almost over, either because the work/school week is about to begin, there is no more time for fun or relaxing weekend activities, or both. (Smith, The Wall Street Journal)
Read MoreVarious surveys have tracked America’s social decline over the past few decades. Tracking data from the American Time Use Survey shows that Americans are spending more time alone and less time with friends than they were two decades ago. Perhaps most notably, the American Perspectives Survey has found that from 1990 to 2021, the percentage of Americans with five or more close friends dropped by 25 points, from 63% to 38%. (Data for Progress)
Read MoreArchbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees the Catholic Church’s pastoral services to Catholics in the U.S. military, is condemning the proposed livestream of the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan. Broglio, in a statement Monday, also stipulated that any Catholic soldier assigned to the U.S. Army firing squad should ask to be excused from that duty, which he described as contrary to the teachings of the church. (AP News)
Read MoreIn July, a House of Commons research briefing noted the reporting of common health disorders was higher in women than men in every age category — and among those aged 17 to 19 it was twice as high in young women (31.6 per cent) as in young men (15.4 per cent). (Smith, The TImes)
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