IS EVERYONE HERE YET?
By Lee Degenstein
If you have the feeling that things are getting a bit crowded lately, you are getting the right feeling. Experts at the Census Bureau report that on Tuesday October 17th, 2006 at approximately 7:46AM (EST) the population of the United States of America will hit the 300 Million mark. I’ll get to how they arrived at that figure in a minute, but it’s obvious what some Americans have been doing in their spare time.
I can just see that battle being drawn up as to who the 300 millionth baby will be. I wonder if number 300 million will get any special prizes. Do you think Jay Leno or David Letterman will be interviewing him or her? I wonder if companies like Proctor and Gamble will be donating diapers for life as a publicity stunt. I am sure the good folks at Gerber will jump on the bandwagon with an endless supply of mashed bean sprouts for the record breaking baby. Maybe Harvard will throw in a free 4 year college education.
When I first saw this story on one of the wire services I couldn’t help but think how does the Census Bureau know that the 300 millionth kid will be born at 7:46 AM? Actually the answer as I discovered, is quite simple. The Census Bureau estimates that one person is born every seven seconds and one dies every 13 seconds. My first thought was that I should have been an obstetrician or an undertaker rather a writer. My third career choice should have been an immigration attorney. The Bureau estimates that a person immigrates to this country (legally or otherwise) every 31 seconds.
Just in case you were wondering, we hit the 100 million mark in 1915 and the 200 million mark 39 years ago November 20th, 1967. Now that I think about it, things do seem a tad more crowded lately. The pace of America’s growth rate is expected to pick up. The people counters at the Census Bureau estimate that the USA will reach over 400 Million people in 35 years that’s four years faster than it took to manufacture the last 100 million people. Must be all those organic vegetables and fast food we are eating.
There are some other interesting facts I found in research for this story. In 1915 the size of the American household was 4.5 people today it’s 2.6 people. Does the IRS allow a deduction for .6 of a person? In 1915 you could purchase a new home for $3,200 ($64,158 in 2006 dollars). Today the price is $290,600.
Back in the day of 1915 a gallon of gas cost about 25 cents ($5.01 in 2006 dollars), today the average price of gas is about $2.50 depending on where you live. In 1915 a gallon of milk cost $ .36 cents gallon ($7.22 in 2006 dollars), today that same gallon costs roughly about $3.00.
In 1915 there were a mere 1.8 billion people on the planet. Today there are 6.5 billion, talk about making good use of your spare time! In 1915 there were 4.5 million people 65 years of age and older, today there are 36.8 million. Then the average life expectancy was 54.5 years and today its 77.8 years. In 1915 only 23 percent of women worked today the number is about 59 percent. Unfortunately they are still paid way less than their male counterparts.
In spite of all this growth the nation’s military is shrinking. In 1915 there were about 174,000 active members of the military. By 1967 that number had grown to 3.4 million and this year the military’s population has dipped to 1.4 million active members.
Whoever number 300 million turns out to be, it is a certainty that he or she will be born into a vastly different country than number 200 million arrived in back in 1967. Our world is more complicated, less safe, more crowded. On the positive side, life is better and easier in many respects thanks the many advances in science, technology and medicine. Some choose to look back to 1967 as the good old days. I choose to look forward and hope that our best days still lie ahead of us. Welcome to the world number 300 million and to its best country in it, The United States Of America!
© Copyright 2006, Lee Degenstein.
All rights reserved
If you have the feeling that things are getting a bit crowded lately, you are getting the right feeling. Experts at the Census Bureau report that on Tuesday October 17th, 2006 at approximately 7:46AM (EST) the population of the United States of America will hit the 300 Million mark. I’ll get to how they arrived at that figure in a minute, but it’s obvious what some Americans have been doing in their spare time.
I can just see that battle being drawn up as to who the 300 millionth baby will be. I wonder if number 300 million will get any special prizes. Do you think Jay Leno or David Letterman will be interviewing him or her? I wonder if companies like Proctor and Gamble will be donating diapers for life as a publicity stunt. I am sure the good folks at Gerber will jump on the bandwagon with an endless supply of mashed bean sprouts for the record breaking baby. Maybe Harvard will throw in a free 4 year college education.
When I first saw this story on one of the wire services I couldn’t help but think how does the Census Bureau know that the 300 millionth kid will be born at 7:46 AM? Actually the answer as I discovered, is quite simple. The Census Bureau estimates that one person is born every seven seconds and one dies every 13 seconds. My first thought was that I should have been an obstetrician or an undertaker rather a writer. My third career choice should have been an immigration attorney. The Bureau estimates that a person immigrates to this country (legally or otherwise) every 31 seconds.
Just in case you were wondering, we hit the 100 million mark in 1915 and the 200 million mark 39 years ago November 20th, 1967. Now that I think about it, things do seem a tad more crowded lately. The pace of America’s growth rate is expected to pick up. The people counters at the Census Bureau estimate that the USA will reach over 400 Million people in 35 years that’s four years faster than it took to manufacture the last 100 million people. Must be all those organic vegetables and fast food we are eating.
There are some other interesting facts I found in research for this story. In 1915 the size of the American household was 4.5 people today it’s 2.6 people. Does the IRS allow a deduction for .6 of a person? In 1915 you could purchase a new home for $3,200 ($64,158 in 2006 dollars). Today the price is $290,600.
Back in the day of 1915 a gallon of gas cost about 25 cents ($5.01 in 2006 dollars), today the average price of gas is about $2.50 depending on where you live. In 1915 a gallon of milk cost $ .36 cents gallon ($7.22 in 2006 dollars), today that same gallon costs roughly about $3.00.
In 1915 there were a mere 1.8 billion people on the planet. Today there are 6.5 billion, talk about making good use of your spare time! In 1915 there were 4.5 million people 65 years of age and older, today there are 36.8 million. Then the average life expectancy was 54.5 years and today its 77.8 years. In 1915 only 23 percent of women worked today the number is about 59 percent. Unfortunately they are still paid way less than their male counterparts.
In spite of all this growth the nation’s military is shrinking. In 1915 there were about 174,000 active members of the military. By 1967 that number had grown to 3.4 million and this year the military’s population has dipped to 1.4 million active members.
Whoever number 300 million turns out to be, it is a certainty that he or she will be born into a vastly different country than number 200 million arrived in back in 1967. Our world is more complicated, less safe, more crowded. On the positive side, life is better and easier in many respects thanks the many advances in science, technology and medicine. Some choose to look back to 1967 as the good old days. I choose to look forward and hope that our best days still lie ahead of us. Welcome to the world number 300 million and to its best country in it, The United States Of America!
© Copyright 2006, Lee Degenstein.
All rights reserved
posted by Lee Degenstein | 6:58 AM
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