Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Tue, Jun 30 1992 Date: Tue, 30 Jun 92 05:22:40 EDT Message-ID: 06-30 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update June 30, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network LOW-WAGE WORKERS GROWING FAST: For many Americans, the 1980s were anything but good years. The number of full-time, year-round workers aged 16 and older who earned less than $12,195 in 1990 dollars grew from 7.8 million in 1979 to more than 14 million in 1990, according to the Census Bureau. Only 19% of workers earned a low wage in 1979, compared with 26% in 1990. (For more, see special Earnings report below.) MORE MEN SUFFER FROM BULIMIA: Experts say 5% to 8% of all U.S. women suffer from bulimia nervosa, an eating disorder that involves frequent episodes of binge eating, almost always followed by purging. Bulimia mainly strikes women 15-35 years old, although an increasing number of men have it. And experts say they're seeing younger girls with the disorder, some 10 years old - and more women in their 40s and 50s. PLATFORM SNEAKERS TAKE OFF: The newest fashion platform is shoes. Bonnie Kupris, owner of New York boutique The Gallery of Wearable Art challenged her daughters to decorate tennis shoes with the platforms of both Republicans and Democrats. Platform Shoes were born. The sneakers lend new meaning to the phrase "running for office." They feature caricatures of the candidates and depictions of political issues. FIRMS SEE REVENUE GROWTH SLOW: The USA's 100 biggest law firms got richer last year, but not as dramatically as in the past. Despite the recession and clients demanding cost containment, the firms still raked in a record $13.9 billion in gross revenue last year, a report by The American Lawyer magazine says. That was just a 3% increase from the previous year, compared with a 9% rise in 1990 and 17% in 1989. SURGE EXPECTED IN TRAVEL: Travel this July Fourth will be the heaviest since 1988, the American Automobile Association said Tuesday. Some 32.3 million Americans will travel 100 miles or more. Travel will increase 8.4% over last year, according to AAA President Paul R. Verkuil. AAA projects that 83% of Americans who travel this holiday will go by automobile, truck or recreational vehicle. PENT-UP DEMAND SPARKS DRIVERS: A total 26.8 million people - 11% of the population - will travel by car, truck or recreational vehicle this July Fourth weekend, according to projections by the American Automobile Association. Travel will be up "in every region," said President Paul Verkuil. Reasons include pent-up demand; the fact that the holiday is on a weekend; and sales of discounted airfares. STUDENTS POLLED ON ABORTION: A USA TODAY poll of nearly two-thousand high school student leaders at the National Association of Student Councils convention shows 34% think all abortions should be illegal. That's down from 44% when the question was asked at the same convention in 1985. Thirty-nine percent of the boys and 30% of girls want abortions banned. Margin of error: Plus or minus 4%. MORE TOYOTAS BUILT IN USA: An increasing percentage of the cars and trucks Toyota sells in the USA are built in North America. Toyota reports sales through June 20 were at 172,902. That's up from 135,740 the period last year. MANY REPS. LEAVING CONGRESS: The largest number of U.S. representatives since 1912 aren't seeking re-election this year. USA TODAY research shows Delaware and North Dakota's sole U.S. representatives are among the 73 not running. Seventy-five percent of Arkansas' representatives aren't running - as are 50% of Idaho's, 43% of Kentucky's, and 38% of Washington's. SPECIAL REPORTS ON EARNINGS: COLLEGE-EDUCATED NOT IMMUNE: Low-earning workers are most likely to be young, unmarried, female, and black or Hispanic. White men have the lowest share of low earners, at 13%. But growth in low earnings is cutting across all demographic categories, and even the college-educated are not immune. Only 6% of full-time workers with some college experience earned a low wage in 1979, but that share increased to 11% in 1990. CLIMB SEEN IN THE 1980S: Overall, the share of low earners dropped between 1964 and 1979, then began climbing again. In 1964, the share of low wage-earners for year-round, full-time workers was 24%. That ratio dropped to 14% in 1969 and 12% in 1974. Between 1974 and 1979, the share of low wage earning women continued to drop, while men's rates remained stable. MEN MARK LOWEST PERCENTAGE: Only 8% of men with full-time, year-round jobs earned low wages in 1979, compared with 14% in 1990. The rate among women grew from 20% to 24%, according to the Census Bureau. For more information, call the U.S. Government Printing Office at 202-783-3238 for a copy of "Workers With Low Earnings: 1964 to 1990." (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