October 29, 2008

Gender, Lifestyle, Money, and Weird Web Statistics



Lies, damned lies, and statistics


I found a new statistical resource recently--and longtime readers know I've always been easily distracted by shiny statistical toys. This new thingy not only purports to measure the number of visitors to a website, but also tries to tell you who those visitors are. (Plus it's public, allowing readers to snoop around and see most of the stats without passwords or permissions or anything).

It's called Quantcast and it gives you demographic information for many popular websites. Last I looked, it said, for example that: nfl.com skews male (surprise!) and that npr.org skews well-educated (what a shock!). But it also says that bargain-hunting sites like Nextag.com and Overstock.com attract an affluent readership (really)? And according to their numbers, HuffingtonPost.com gets more men visiting than women, while Netflix gets more women than men. (If I were to guess, I might have reversed those two).

Note: I have no idea how Quantcast gets this information. Nor do I know how accurate it is. Be especially careful when look at a site that hasn't been directly measured or "Quantified," because their guesses on readership can be way off.

Of course I don't really care much about all those other sites--the most interesting statistics to me are all about Cranky Fitness readers! And while you're mostly who I thought you were... there were some surprises.


So, Who The Heck Are You People?


According to the Cranky Fitness quantcast profile, last time I checked you folks reading this were mostly:

Female;
Over 35 years old;
Caucasian;
Childless;
Middle income;
and Incredibly, Ridiculously Well-Educated.

Seriously, the education stats were off the scale compared to the average website. (And no, I have no idea whether the folks who end up here googling "big bouncy breasts" or "big fat ass" are included. If so, then these statistics are even more impressive).

You Are People, Not Numbers


A quick glance at the comments section of our posts or the profiles of our friendly "followers" reveals that there are plenty of you that don't fit this description at all. We get men, and parents, and people just starting off in college, and folks of many colors. Incomes range from Almost Nothing to Very Well Off. So these are just averages. The numbers are also based in large part on lurkers and googlers and folks you never get to meet down in the comments section.

But Two Statistics Surprised Me


The first surprise: I thought a lot more of you had kids! Are moms just more sociable and more likely to comment on posts? Because last I looked at the Quantcast numbers, only about a quarter of you were parents. I would have thought it was way higher.

The other thing that struck me as odd: the income numbers. Given that Cranky Fitness readers are older (than average websites), childless, and extremely well educated... one might predict higher income. Instead, readers are slightly underrepresented among the higher income ranges, not overrepresented.

Generally, it's my impression that over-35, well-educated childless folks often have slightly higher incomes than less educated, younger, child-full folks.

So what's the deal?

Well... the education/affluence link is a generalization from average populations. You folks aren't "average"--you're mostly women! And I can't help but wonder if there's a connection.

Why the Income/Education Disparity?

Maybe it's not a sexist conspiracy that on average, you're making less money than similarly well-educated readers of Macho Meaty-Man Fitness.Com. There could be plenty of innocent explanations for this that have nothing to do with gender discrimination.

Among the possibilities:

1. Quantcast has its pointy head up it's ass and the statistics are just plain wrong;

2. My assumptions about more education leading to higher income are fundamentally screwed up; or

3. People willing to read posts by an author named "Crabby McSlacker" may be less career-oriented than the general web surfing population.

Gender Wage Gap, or Healthy Balanced Lifestyle?


Unfortunately, there is still a stubborn wage gap between men and women. And women, when they do have kids, are more likely to cut back on working hours and stay home with them, whereas men tend to keep on earning.

But I'm kinda hoping it's something else.

I read the comments here, and I read many of your blogs, and I have at least an illusion that I have a sense of who some of you are. Here's my optimistic hypothesis:

It seems to me that many of you strive for a balanced approach between work and life; between time and material possessions; between human values and financial ones. I sense a tendency to choose careers that involve helping people or creating things versus more lucrative pursuits. You folks also seem more likely to take time off to take care of a family member, or work for the Peace Corps, or go back to school to pursue a whole new endeavor.

Sure, with all those advanced degrees some of you could be pulling in bigger paychecks if you were working 80 hour weeks at law firms, or short-selling stock or performing liposuction on movie stars. And perhaps some of you are doing just that. But for most of you who are apparently not raking in big paychecks: I'm hoping you are choosing to use your education in ways that are more important to you than earning larger salaries.

But I'm just an over-educated under-earner named Crabby McSlacker, what the hell do I know?

Do These Statistics Mean Anything at All?


There's a good chance that these statistics were based on such a small sample that they don't mean bupkus. Maybe next week they'll be totally different. But it did make me realize that the question of who comes here is very intriguing! And I'm always curious about the whole "equal rights for women" issue that we were supposed to have solved decades ago--how is actually playing out in real life?

So if any of you feel liking checking in:

Do you fall within any of these "typical Cranky Fitness" demographics yourself?

Are you a highly-educated person who is not earning the Big Bucks, and if so, was that a choice?

If you're a gal, do you think your options or choices or paycheck would have been different had you been male? Or vice versa if you're a guy?

Do you care at all/believe in demographic statistics?

63 comments:

  1. The Cranky Fitness demographic is one of the few places in life I've ever (mostly) fit in. Kicky.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, lemme see.

    I have a college education. (big deal - I have a degree in Secretarial Science), but that does not mean I'm not reasonably intelligent.

    I'm childless.

    I do not have a job off the ranch.
    That does not mean I don't work.
    But it does mean I don't earn big bucks.

    Do I fit in here? ('Cause I certainly don't fit in lots of other places....)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Female; Check.
    Over 35 years old; Check.
    Caucasian; Check.
    Childless; Check.
    Middle income; Guess so?
    and Incredibly, Ridiculously Well-Educated. Depends on your point of view I guess - I went to community college, completed a challenging program and did well. I like to read and I remember things I read. But I don't have years of university or any fancy degrees. So educated, fairly intelligent, but probably not "Incredibly, Ridiculously Well-Educated."

    I actually work in an industry that tends to be male dominated. I don't know what everyone else earns, but I'd guess the men do earn more.

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  4. Statistics was a course in college that struck fear into 99.9% of students. P].001!

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  5. I hope everyone feels like they "fit in" at Cranky Fitness no matter who they are!

    And Javachick, good point. I should have said "incredibly likely to have post-graduate degrees compared to the average web reading population", because there are many ways of being "well-educated" that have nothing to do with degrees.

    I suspect that by any measure this is a well-read, well-educated crowd, at least judging by the comments.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The data is alarmingly accurate. What most people don't realize is that their ISP is capable, and often does (at least in the US where there is no restriction on this), track each site you visit. Because every place you go on the internet has to go through your ISP first, it is literally every site you visit. This allows the ISP to generate revenue in advertising because they can aggregate lots of demographic data about people who will pay big bucks to target advertising to people. It also enables companies like Quantcast to generate this kind of demographic data.

    On the surface it looks like its beneficial to us, however, with the degree of aggregation of data that goes on it is almost always possible to push that data back down to individual people... there isn't enough anonymity in the "obscurity" of the data. Which means if someone wants to, they are statistically very likely to be able to figure out exactly which person corresponds to each aggregated entry of data.

    It's scary stuff. But the end result is your stats are undoubtedly on the mark.

    You manage to hit my two passions-- fitness and security. I had to uncloak for this one. Love your blog CF.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Female, over 40, caucasian, 4 kids, college degrees, and I stay home and homeschool the kids, bottle raise orphaned kittens for a cat rescue society, teach finance and advanced cooking at a homeschool co-operative, volunteer for other things, too, and earn nothing but the rewards you cannot spend.

    Yes if I quit volunteering and sent my kids to school and worked full time, I could earn something more, but I'm happy with the choices I've made.

    No matter if I fit your typical demographic or not, I love your style, wit, and perspective.

    messymimi

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  8. I started searching random sites to see if I fit in their mold. Quantcast is like a new addiction for me know, like I have to check out every site I visit.

    As to the question, I don't fit your norm perfectly because, well I'm a guy, and I'm only 25, but I do have a college degree and a mid-level income. I haven't used my degree though, and I'm not really interested in working 80+ hours per week either. So I'm one of those balanced types who enjoys life and work at the same time.

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  9. Oooh, thanks guys, I'm finding this really interesting! (And, J.C., yeah, a little scary! I used to turn off my browser cookies but it became too hard to manage will all my logins and passwords, so now, my data is probably all hanging out there for the advertising world to see. I just wish the spammers would take note of my profile and stop sending me emails telling me how to increase my "bell rope size.")

    One statistic they didn't list but I know to be true:

    Cranky Fitness readers: off the scale in Awesomeness.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Fascinating statistics... hey, wait a minute, where's the sense of humor? I don't see that mentioned, yet surely it's an essential factor... hmmmn....

    ReplyDelete
  11. I do think it's very nice of Crabby to let me post here even if I don't have a Ph.D :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm a woman, educated ("well" is a matter of dispute, but I'm getting my PhD...it counts, right? :), poor, no kids, but I'm 30 (*slightly* younger, although not by much...but I'll still count it as not in your age range!).

    Who has time if you're career oriented to read blogs? Oh, wait, I'm not supposed to have time either. Then I can't tell you a darn thing!

    ReplyDelete
  13. How interesting!!! I would of guessed that more readers had kids, too. But I don't, I'm under 35, have Masters degree and get paid somewhere in the middle. I'm not poor, but I'm not living like Jay-Z.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm female.
    28.
    Caucasian.
    No kids, but I'm getting married and am planning on having them, and don't see myself (or my 29 year old fiance) not reading your blog because it's laugh out loud hysterical.
    Computer geek = better than average income but not 6 figures.
    I have an associates in liberal arts from community college...which means I could go on to a 4 year school, but chose computer school instead. But I consider myself independently educated. But technically, I would guess I'd be classified as not well-educated.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Female,
    21,
    Ivy League Bachelor's degree(earned a year early), getting ready to start working on a Ph.D (found a program I'd kill to get into), at which point I'd like to a. Teach college, and b. consult for an eating disorder recovery clinic.
    Working as a personal trainer (so yeah, not making the money I could with my undergrad degree).

    ReplyDelete
  16. I am your prototypical reader, although I suspect your prototypical reader also likes to think they are totally unique like I do.

    RE the advanced degrees, my experience is that the 'value' of an academic degree in terms of earning power generally peaks at a master's. If you've got lots of people with PhDs (as opposed to JDs or MDs), they are generally not going to earn as well as someone who has a more 'practical' degree.

    My husband and I both have PhDs and work for the same university in closely related fields (so close that (a) we each have a courtesy appointment in the other's department and (b) we have difficulty explaining to people at parties what the difference between the fields is). His field is ca. 85-90% men, my field is ca. 65-70% men. He earns 50% more than I do. No, I do not think that is a coincidence.

    ReplyDelete
  17. You mean the internet isn't anonymous?!? Crap!

    heh.

    Ok, very interesting stats.
    I am..
    Female
    A few months shy of 30
    Caucasian
    Definitely not childless
    Not even close to middle income
    Not well educated by the standard definition (1 year of Community College but I plan to do more) however I am well-read, informed and an independent thinker so I consider myself intelligent and educated even if "they" don't.

    So, I guess I don't really fall into your demographic but I live life on the edge man, so I guess I'll stay anyway. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I fit all the criteria except for "childless". I have 3 rugrats, and I'm not sure I would consider myself ridiculously well educated - although I do have a degree in French, a language that is oh so useful here in Oklahoma - which is why I am an admin assistant for a company making considerably less than my male coworkers. *le sigh*

    J'adore le Feetness Crankee.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Yeah, statistics! Had to take many statistic classes to complete my many degrees. I enjoy statistics so much more than Calc, there can be more than one answer. By the degrees on my wall I suppose I'm over-educated, as for whether I'm intelligent, the jury is still out. The website stats fit me 4 out of 6.

    But I'm with Merry, where is the humor meter, b/c we'd all be off the charts here at Cranky Fitness.

    ReplyDelete
  20. OOO, messymimi, love this: "...and earn nothing but the rewards you cannot spend." That sums it up for me.

    28, female, 3.5 kids. College degree, Stay at home mom. I think your hypothesis about your reader's choices is very true for us. In our case my husband has multiple advanced degrees and makes pennies. But with both of our occupations, that's what we've chosen: more time with family, working with people we love, and really believing we're both making a difference in the world. In our case that happens to come with next-to-nothing paychecks. We could both stop what we're doing and go off and get higher paying jobs. But we both love what we do. I gripe a lot about being poor but really, I wouldn't change a thing (except of course the size of our paychecks).

    ReplyDelete
  21. I'm not sure it means anything...but I do fit all the criteria except I have three daughters and two stepdaughters and two girl cats.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oooh more ways to stalk your readers! Awesome! I fit the mold, except I'm younger and not childless.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Oooo! Statistics! As my Master's Advisor always said..."it's the only way to massage your data to get what you want!" : ) So let's see:

    Female: Last I checked.
    Over 35 years old: Nope...but getting close.
    Caucasian: Yup.
    Childless: Nope - got a 2 year old, planning for another relatively soon.
    Middle income: Depends. For the entire country, yeah. For my middle of no-where population 600 rural town - I'm doing rather well.
    Incredibly, Ridiculously Well-Educated: I have two engineering degrees. That qualifies for ridiculously educated. Whether it was WELL educated is a different question.

    And the most important statistic: we all *heart* Crabby and Merry!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Like some of the other readers here, I'm younger, college-educated and consider myself "middle income" (who really knows what that means? Maybe there are some statistics that I could look into.......). The problem with stats is that they can't quantify goals and attitudes--which seems to be what we all have in common.

    Concerning the wage gap issue: I did a report back in 2005 for a nonprofit that I was working with (volunteering for, really--talk about the ratio between hours worked and wage!!) and I found some interesting details to help explain the gap. You mentioned work-life balance, which turned out to be the most statistically relevant explanation. I forget the numbers, but data points like "flexible hours" and "ability to work remotely" were commonly cited as factors in a woman's career of choice. On the dude's side, there was one surprising factor that we didn't see coming: hazard pay. Men often take jobs that are considered more "risky"--even things we wouldn't normally think of as dangerous, like engineering or project management.

    This is not to say that it makes the gap acceptable or anything. The results were interesting to say the least. Thought I'd pass them along!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm almost your prototypical reader - female, caucasian, childless, 30 years old, college educated, and I don't really know what "middle income" is but I guess I'm in it...not really sure about that last one. This is all very intriguing, I'm very fascinated by the sociology side of stats.

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  26. Well CLEARLY I fall into the incredibly, ridiculously well-educated category!

    Hehe. I love stats. Not sure I entirely think that they're reliable, but they sure are intriguing!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Female;Yes
    Over 35 years old;Nope, 27 here
    Caucasian;Nope
    Childless;Heck yeah
    Middle income;Yes
    and Incredibly, Ridiculously Well-Educated only moderately well educated. I have a B.S., but have been thinking about getting a post grad degree for some time.

    I do spend a lot of time volunteering, and I'm looking to take a pay cut to find a job that allows for more work/life balance. Although I think the whole "childless well-educated" people earning more has to do with having two incomes and no children.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Ooooh.. big brotherish.

    Over-aged, under-educated, low-income with kidlets.

    I don't fit in, and yet I keep coming back. Must be the comfy chairs - and the cupcakes.

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  29. Katieo - 3.5 kids???? Does that mean you are expecting another? Cool!!!

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  30. I always pictured the 1/2 a kid as an extension of one of the others, i.e. if you have 3.5 kids that means you have 2 kids with the appropriate number of arms and legs, and 1 kid with an extra set of arms, or a spare head, or something like that.
    On the other hand, I clearly need some coffee... hallucinations are part of the withdrawal symptoms...

    ReplyDelete
  31. I have Quantcast on my blog too. It shows that the majority of my readers are male, middle aged, and make less than $30k/yr. That is exactly the opposite of me. Stats are really interesting.

    I fit your stats except for the age (under 35)and race (Asian).

    ReplyDelete
  32. I have 2 kids and another with 4 extra arms and one extra head (it's tiny though).

    Merry, you crack me up.

    (yes Bag lady, I'm pregnant).

    ReplyDelete
  33. oh darn, I just wen tback to quantcast to obsessively check every website I visit, and I noticed that the income is total household income. So ignore my previous comment, and I guess I don't fit in the income bracket either.

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  34. I am not yet 35, but I'm white, childless, female, and middle income. I like to think that I'm well-educated, but I don't necessarily have enough degrees to back it up. (Just that one, dammit.)

    ReplyDelete
  35. Female. Under 35. Childless. Middle Income. With some education and working on more.

    ReplyDelete
  36. interesting...and I dont fit in.

    love,

    MizFit (rimshot?)

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  37. Lessee...

    Female. 41. Half-Caucasian, half-Hispanic. Married. Childless by choice. Master's degree.

    I chose a career in higher ed admin because after working for a number of small businesses, I was thrilled at the chance to work someplace where I would not be sexually harrassed, where I would have opportunities for advancement and further education, and where I could count on a certain amount of stability in my life. I have decent benefits that are free to me and I'm vested in the state's teacher retirement program (even though I'm not a teacher).

    I'm not making the big bucks, but I'm not taking any big risks either, nor do I have to put in long hours. This gives me the freedom to pursue my REAL dreams, which are athletic and creative in nature and likely won't ever earn me so much as a wooden nickel.

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  38. Cool....I'd be scared if I was anything but an upstanding citizen...how does it know all that?!

    I fit right in here, except for the child stat; also very impressed with your #'s Cranky...your site is getting so popular!

    Next they need to figure out a way to measure our Humor Quotient.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Wait, CAN THEY SEE ME RIGHT NOW???

    It's a little scary, I'm pegged. 38, no kids, redheaded and VERY white, working on a law degree, and plan (hope) to be a federal prosecutor, which means middle-income.

    How bizarre!

    ReplyDelete
  40. 4 kiddos here ;) but I like to think I fit in everywhere ;) since I LOVE people!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Erm...lets see...just a caucasian female turning 35 (*sigh*), no kids, with a degree in biochemistry and microbiology. I'm an average labrat in a medical cancer unit of a teaching hospital. I was working for the government in a lab, but it was for dumb things like making a more pesticide resistant crop. I'm more overworked now, but I'm helping people...and you don't get into research to make $$, especially in the academic setting, so let's just not talk about that...

    Stats always intrigue me - they are so easily manipulated. I'd be so curious to see where they get all their info from...I wonder how they get my income and education from my web address tho...curious.

    I just assume women with no children post more as we have no little people to chase around. I don't know how pople with kids get anything done...I'm bad enough now :)

    ReplyDelete
  42. Female
    Over 35 years old
    Caucasian
    Childless except for furkids
    Middle income, I wish! I work flexibly and remotely 2 1/2 jobs currently, plus all household duties
    Incredibly, Ridiculously Well-Educated = just a Useless Degree, years of avid self education and way too many semesters in the School of Hard Knocks. Should have paid more attention to paying into Social Security while self employed.

    Off now to go get an anonymous browser program.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I just found this site yesterday, and I already love it!
    I am a 19 year old second-year college student...female, Caucasian, no plans for kids...but I'm broke (I'm a student!) and I don't think I'll every end up making big bucks, but I will get a Master's Degree :)

    ReplyDelete
  44. I am a 52 year old widow, caucasian, Ph.D in autodidactism, middle (use to be upper income prior to the Bush administration) income. Mother of 30 year old twins one of whom is straight. 2 cats and until a few weeks ago, I had fish in a pond but the raccoon ate them all.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Well, let's see. I'm a 30 year old mother of two who has started a new career this year after selling a family business (which had been in the fam for 25 years!) I'm now doing what I love being a personal trainer and actually working on building my own stats on my fitness blog. Why are those statistics so darn intriguing? I always check my stats, hoping every day that they will increase and found it's like weighing myself. I can't do it or it will determine my mood for the day. Scale up? Sad day. Scale down? Happy day. Stats up? Happy day. Stats down? Sad day.

    Okay, so I don't really get sad over my stats, just more determined. So that's me - one of your readers - a girl who almost got her business degree but stopped when I got pregnant with a baby who had kidney problems - a girl who is supporting her hubby in his new goal to become a nurse anesthetist (long road ahead) and a girl who tries to live a happy life and make those around her happy.

    Nice to "officially" introduce myself! :)

    ReplyDelete
  46. Female - yes.
    Over 35 years old - Odin, yes!
    Caucasian - any paler and I'd be transparent.
    Childless - thankfully so!
    Middle income - I wish!
    and Incredibly, Ridiculously Well-Educated - well, I have a degree that I've never used and a couple of mini-course certificates. More importantly I have common sense!

    ReplyDelete
  47. Female: Yes
    Over 35 years old: No
    Caucasian: Yes
    Childless: Yes
    Middle income: for most of the country, yes. For Los Angeles (where I live), no.
    and Incredibly, Ridiculously Well-Educated: No. Just a BA.

    Funny stuff, huh? And yes, a little scary.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Female: Yes!
    Rediculously overeducated: YES!
    Still getting more education: YES!
    I think that women are taught from a young age not to negotiate and to think that they should just take what they are given. So shock those jerks and demand more!!!
    You are probably doing the work to deserve it.

    ReplyDelete
  49. im all your demographics except over 35.

    man, its like the computer KNOWS ME.

    Kelly Turner
    www.groundedfitness.com

    ReplyDelete
  50. Caucasian, over-40 single mom of 1 kid, low-middle income, Master's degree and taking more graduate classes, have always worked in health and/or social services, new lurker here and luvinit.

    ReplyDelete
  51. My turn!

    Femail: yes
    Over 35: ummm, 19.
    Income bracket: *surpresses laugh* low.
    Children: No
    Race: white aussie mish-mash.
    Ridiculously Well-Educated: Work in progress. Probebly will never get there.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Being the savvy marketing person that I am {cough :}, stuff like Quancast are kinda like those "for entertainment purposes only" thingies. The best demographics you'll get is by doing your own survey. I think your description is far closer than any interweb thingymabob.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Well, I'm a 35 year old white New Zealand woman. I have an MA degree and I would consider myself to earn a middle income, though if I'm honest I earn significantly more than the average salary and quite a bit more than my husband. I'm also childless (unless three cats count). I tend to be both ambitious in my career and goal focussed when it comes to my fitness. This means I tend to spend my life either working or working out. Thankfully hubby is reasonably content to spend most of his time online when I'm not around!

    I'm a bit unnerved that someone out there is able to collate so much personal information on us all though. Creepy ...

    ReplyDelete
  54. I have my doctorate in physical therapy and due to certain licensing restrictions in the UK, I am unable to work as much as planned (or intended anyway). Therefore, my income is negligible for all intensive purposes. I am childless, but do not fit the age profile described for your other readers.

    I could never have imagined that I'd be able to do the great things that I have had the freedom to do since moving half way across the world and only working part time. Its been great discovering what I'm truly passionate about and developing it into my life. It has taught me a great deal about myself and furthered my personal development and future plans. As my husband always says when I sometimes get down about the scales tipping down towards education vs. work-time, "but, we have a plan!"

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  55. [This has been up for a day??? It only showed up in my feed reader this morning!]
    Except for middle income, that's me. I discovered last week that the poverty level for one person is now higher than the _most_ I ever earned (which was not below the poverty level when I earned it, but close). This, of course, is because I've rarely been well enough to work full time, or at all, so I think it would turn out the same if I were a man.
    I agree that our Humor Quotient would skew the stats for most blogs!

    Mary Anne in Kentucky

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  56. Wow, I'm really enjoying getting to know all this stuff about you all!

    And it does reinforce my feeling that many of you are making conscious choices about how you balance life goals, and are not blindly following a consumerist path the way we are constantly encouraged to in this culture.

    Thanks so much for checking in!

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  57. Female: yes
    Over 35 years old: Nope, I am 26
    Caucasian: Yes
    Childless: Yes
    Middle income: What is that? I dont make much, but it is normal for someone still entering into the corporate thing
    Well-educated: Nope, I have a B.A. from a good college, but I am assuming you are talking about JDs, MDs, and PhDs here, and I am batting around the CONCEPT of grad school, but havent done anything about it yet.

    ReplyDelete
  58. wow, I wish I'd checked in here yesterday! I've been lurking since almost the beginning.. *grin*

    I still don't fit all the stats, tho I've swapped a few in the past year

    Female; Yes
    Over 35 years old; Nope, 28
    Caucasian; yupper
    Childless; my 1st is 6 weeks old today!
    Middle income; maybe? i'm now a stay at home mommy, which i'm THRILLED to be able to do - however, the hubby works more OT to afford it.
    Incredibly, Ridiculously Well-Educated; not rediculously.. a photography BA doesn't count as a real degree, and I haven't even worked in the field since graduation.. 6 years ago *gasp*

    now you know one more of your lurkers! :)

    ReplyDelete
  59. female, 25, college degree from a large university on the east coast (though not ivy league - boston univ.), single (though practically engaged), no kids ... and making less than $20k/yr. yep.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Lurker here.

    Female
    Under 35 (barely)
    Caucasian
    One child, age 1, wanting another soon
    Upper income
    Educated- BS in computer science, no grad degree

    Work from home part-time, stay at home mommy part time

    I can't say that I personally feel that my options or paycheck have been limited by my sex, but I think it happens.

    I think demographic statistics are interesting, who knows if they're accurate though.

    I am depressed to realize that I'll be entering a new demographic age group in less than a year (35 and up)

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  61. Wow - I am an uneducated male under 35. :(

    I feel so violated by Quantcast!!

    ;)

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  62. I love the readers here! Formal education or not, I learn a TON with each and every comment.

    Weighing in... I'm female, in my mid-twenties, have an MA, am a low-income earner (juggling work and school for the past two years essentially killed my aptitude at both!).

    Oh, yeah, I don't have a kids, just a cat. And I agree with matmos that earning power peaks with most master's degrees; earning a PhD in my field would just condemn me to a life of sessional teaching random entry-level courses, and earning less than I do now. If anything, I'd love a second master's in a more practical field.... but until I pay off the first, who knows?

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