Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends,americast.usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Fri, Oct 30 1992 Date: Fri, 30 Oct 92 09:37:04 EST Message-ID: 10-30 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update Oct 30-Nov. 1, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network RICH GOT RICHER DURING THE '80S: During the 1980s, America's "super rich" families enjoyed 55% of the nation's total increase in household wealth, a study released Thursday shows. The report is likely to heat up the already smoldering political debate over the "rich getting richer" - a charge that appears regularly in Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton's campaign rhetoric. (For more, see special Rich package below.) EMPLOYEES WORKING AT HOME: Nearly 22 million Americans took work home with them in 1991 - most of them voluntarily and for no extra money. Only 1.9 million of those workers were paid for their trouble. That's "worker exploitation," says AFL-CIO economist Mark Lee Roberts. "It happens with high-paid lawyers. It happens with low-paid workers, led to believe this is part of keeping their job," he said. SERVICE JOBS SPARK TREND: Taking home work has tended to increase since the second World War due to the increase in service employment, "whether you're a cop or doctor or teacher or a salesman," says economist Mark Lee Roberts. In 1985, 18.1 million people took work home from their regular jobs, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Last year, 21.8 million people took work home with them. MORE ARE BIKING IT: The bicycle has become an increasingly popular means of transportation because it responds to contemporary problems around the world. Some 800 million bikes are used daily, compared to 460 million cars, according to the Worldwatch Institute. Less than 10% of the world's people can afford a car, but close to 80% can buy a bike. MORE DISABLED STUDENTS ENROLLED: The proportion of freshman college students reporting disabilities has risen sharply since the late 1970s, says a study issued by the American Council on Education. The study, "College Freshmen With Disabilities: A Statistical Profile," says almost 1 in 11 full-time freshmen who enrolled last year reported having a disability, compared with 1 in 38 students in 1978. AIDS ORPHANS TO INCREASE: About 55,000 New York City children, teens and young adults will lose their mothers to AIDS by the year 2000. So says a new report from an organization called the Orphan Project. The report says more than half of those left motherless will be under age 18; 58% will be black, 30% Hispanic and 11% white. Some will be infected with the AIDS virus themselves. MANY SAVING FOR THE FUTURE: More employees are participating in their company's 401-K savings plans. More than 24 million employees are eligible to participate and about 13 million do. The typical company contributes 33 cents for every employee dollar. Access Research shows the average employee contribution is $2,100 per year. PRICES SOAR AFTER SERIES: The value of Toronto players' rookie baseball cards are on the way up since the Blue Jays' World Series victory. MVP Pat Borders' card sold for 35 cents a card before the series. It now sells for $3. Dave Winfield's card sold for $90 before the series. It's now going for $125. MOVIES HAVE TO BE RE-EDITED: New Line Cinema says it will appeal an NC-17 rating slapped on Louis Malle's "Damage." The movie stars Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche and is about a British Parliament member who has an illicit affair with his son's fiance. The film opens nationwide Jan. 15. Meanwhile, Madonna's "Body of Evidence," also out Jan. 15, has been trimmed to receive an R rating. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON RICH: RICH HAVE HAPPY DAYS: Between 1983 and 1989, the concentration of wealth among the wealthiest families was the greatest at any time since 1929, concludes the study by the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank. America's super rich, defined as the top one-half percent of the richest families, enjoyed a 4.6% rise in personal wealth. INCOME, STOCK BOOST ASSETS: The top one-half percent had an average net worth that ranged from $8.4 million to $10.7 million from 1983-1989. "In 1989, this small fraction of families owned 30.8% of total wealth compared to 26.2% in 1983," said the authors. There are three reasons behind the shift, according to the report: Income inequality, stock prices and housing prices. RICHES ARE IN HANDS OF FEW: The report's conclusions include: While the household wealth of the top half percent rose sharply, the proportion of American families who owe more than they're worth rose from 25% in 1983 to 29% in 1989. Also found: In 1989, the top 1% of American families owned 48% of the country's total financial wealth. (End of Package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM