Remember when these things were as big as bricks?

Income is an incomplete measure of how well people live. Lots of people with decent incomes live relatively poorly because they have high debt loads, use their money to support family members, or for other reasons. The U.S. Census Bureau surveys some other measurements of well-being, such as housing conditions and possession of cell phones.

Unfortunately, no data are available for the Pikes Peak region. Many of the trends nationwide are likely playing out here, though. All the data are available for download and further analysis. Here’s a press release issued Thursday:

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The number of households with cell phones increased from 36 percent to 71 percent between 1998 and 2005, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. This corresponded with a decrease in households with telephone landlines, particularly households headed by young adults.

These figures are part of an in-depth look at the living standards of U.S. households using extended measures of well-being. The data were collected in 2005 as part of the ongoing Survey of Income and Program Participation. The survey is unique because it allows the user to track select quality of life measures over time using a variety of demographic characteristics.

“While income is generally regarded as the best single measure of one’s living standard, it doesn’t give us the whole picture,” said Tiffany Julian, an analyst in the Census Bureau’s Housing and Household Economic
Statistics Division. “This survey is unique in that it includes additional measures of well-being that give us a broader look at household living conditions.”

Householders who were 29 or younger went from 35 percent with cell phones in 1998 to 81 percent in 2005. Over the same period, this same group saw a decrease in ownership of landline phones from 93 percent to 71
percent.

Landline phone ownership fell from 96 percent to 91 percent overall from 1998 to 2005. In 2005, 98 percent of householders who were 65 and over had a landline telephone.

The number of households with a personal computer increased from 42 percent to 67 percent between 1998 and 2005. Those who were least likely to own a computer in 2005 were the elderly, those in poverty and those without a high school diploma.

Among the indicators in this survey that measure quality of life are possession of appliances and electronic goods, housing conditions, neighborhood conditions, public services and the ability to meet basic needs, such as paying bills, avoiding foreclosure and having sufficient food.

Some of the household characteristics in this survey include race, Hispanic origin, age, income, poverty status and type (e.g., family, nonfamily, married, nonmarried, etc.).

To determine who is in poverty, the Census Bureau uses a set of income thresholds that vary by family size and composition.

Other statistics:
– In 2005, 92 percent of householders felt their neighborhoods were safe; 96 percent were satisfied with public services such as fire and policeprotection.
– Eighty-six percent of households reported being able to keep up-to-date on overall essential expenses.
– Households that paid either rent or a mortgage were generally up to date on their payments — 94 percent.
– Ninety percent of households responded that they were able to pay their utility bills.
– Households in poverty were more likely to have trouble paying bills; 35 percent had unmet bills.
– Among all households, 96 percent reported having a microwave oven.
– Ninety-five percent of households said they had no roof or ceiling leaks; 97 percent reported no broken windows.

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* 163 nations around the world guarantee paid sick leave; the U.S. does not.
* 164 nations guarantee paid annual leave; the U.S. does not.
* 177 nations guarantee paid leave for new mothers; the U.S. does not.
* 74 nations guarantee paid leave for new fathers; the U.S. does not.
* 48 nations guarantee paid time off to care for children’s health; the U.S. does not.
* 157 nations guarantee workers a day of rest each week; the U.S. does not.
* 148 nations guarantee a wage premium for mandatory overtime, including the U.S.

“The world’s most successful and competitive nations are providing the supports the United States lacks, without harming their competitiveness,” said Jody Heymann, founding director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy at McGill University, in a message announcing release of the study. “Globally, we found that none of these working conditions are linked with lower levels of economic competitiveness or employment. There simply is no negative relationship at all between decent working conditions and competitiveness or job creation. In fact, we found that a number of these guarantees are associated with increased competitiveness. Ensuring a floor of decent working conditions is crucial for the majority of Americans. The United States lags far behind most of the 190 countries whose labor laws we examined.”

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That’s more than double the 10 percent poverty rate for everyone who lives in El Paso County, and it’s six times the rate for the least poverty-stricken school district in the area, Academy School District 20.

Miami-Yoder is a small school district, with a total population of 2,104 people and just 443 school-age children. But among those children, an estimated 24 percent live in families whose incomes are at or lower than the federal government’s poverty threshold. The threshold for a family of four last year was annual income of $21,200. Here’s a map that shows the district boundaries.

In Academy School District 20, just 4 percent of children live in families whose incomes are at or lower than the poverty level. That translates to 855 children among the 19,419 school-age kids who live in the district. D-20 covers much of northern Colorado Springs and areas north of the city limits.

Here’s a look at student populations and poverty rates for all school districts in El Paso County.

The methodology for reaching these estimates can be confusing, but the Census Bureau explains it all in great detail.

Some unrelated odds and ends:
* USA Today has a good story today, headline: More members of middle class file for bankruptcy.
* The amount of material recycled across Colorado increased 28 percent from 2007 to 2008, reports the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
* Two-thirds of physicians who treat breast cancer patients reportedly did not have access to a quality (language) interpreter when they needed it, says Language Line Services, citing a study in the journal Health Services Research.

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Anderson’s reasoning goes like this: With the city covering about 200 square miles, city workers must travel long distances to plow snow, enforce the law, run programs, etc. That requires more resources for transportation, more idle time on the clock for city workers and more facilities to serve residents in far-flung parts of the city.

Not so fast, says the Cato Institute think tank in a paper released today called “The Myth of the Compact City.” Cato researcher Randal O’Toole writes the Obama administration is planning to enforce policies on cities that would result in denser populations and governments that cater to pedestrians and mass transit. It’s hardly a proven model for urban development, O’Toole says.

“Compact-development policies represent a huge intrusion on private property rights, personal freedom, and mobility,” he writes. “They are also fraught with risks. Urban planners and economists are far from unanimous about whether such policies will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Some even raise the possibility that compact city policies could increase emissions by increasing roadway congestion.”

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Teacher pay in the county increased 14 percent on average during that time, hitting $40,202 in 2007. Accounting for everyone who works in the county, 203,114 workers in 2007 according to the federal government’s tally, the average annual wage increased 16 percent during the same period.

The average annual teacher pay during each of those seven years somewhat higher the average pay for all workers in the county. The biggest spread was in 2003, when teachers made $1,983 on average more than the average for all workers in the county. In 2007, there were 6,608 teachers employed in El Paso County’s 15 school districts.

A few commenters with my blog earlier today mistakenly accused me of trying to make a case that teacher pay is too low. In fact, I was unable to get to data that would make a comparison between teacher pay and the pay for all workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics site was down, and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment site didn’t offer data earlier than 2001 (I mistakenly said 2000 in an comment reply to a reader). This afternoon, I was able to get into the BLS site and found out it, too, has data only through 2001. So I took the BLS data and calculated average teacher pay for each year that was available.

Similarly, any assumption that I’m now arguing for higher pay would be mistaken. This blog is not a space for my opinion, but your opinions are welcome. Please add comments to the blog, including suggestions for further analysis.

Here’s a graphical look at teacher pay and the pay of all workers for each year.

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Government worker pay has attracted quite a bit of attention recently, particularly in Colorado Springs, where voters recently rejected a property tax increase for the city government. Following some coverage of how much city workers are paid, a reader got in touch with me last month to say he’d like to see some analysis of teacher salaries. I don’t have a database of every teacher and how much they’re paid, but the state government puts out an annual roundup of all school districts in the state and their average teacher salaries.

That’s a good place to start, and I’d like to look deeper at teacher salaries if I can work it in with other projects. In the meantime, some other findings:

* The highest-paid El Paso County teachers in 2007 were in Colorado Springs School District 11, where the average salary was $46,065. The lowest-paid were in Ellicott School District 22, where the average salary was $34,027.

* The biggest increase in teacher pay was in Hanover School District 28, where average teacher pay increased 49 percent, from $25,617 to $38,222.

* Student-teacher ratios are all over the board, from one teacher for ever 10.5 students in Hanover to one for every 17.3 students in Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8.

Of course, teacher pay is a complex issue, just like anybody’s pay. None of this is to suggest teachers are paid too little or too much. And none of this accounts for the cost of benefits. But just the salaries do add up to a good chunk of change, $265.6 million in 2007. Here’s a graph showing total 2007 teacher salary costs for each district in the county.

Ideas for more analysis are welcome.

UPDATE: Depending on how you got to this page, you might not see the update to this blog I filed a few minutes ago, looking at teacher pay and the pay for all employees in El Paso County from 2001 to 2007. Please check it out!

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One of the more interesting was a press release from Patients First, which highlighted poll results that show most respondents figure it’s not the federal government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have health-care coverage:

Washington, D.C. — Patients First, A Project of Americans for Prosperity is highlighting a new Gallup poll that shows historic opposition to government-run health care. The poll could have major implications for legislators considering a major overhaul of the current system.

For the first time since Gallup began tracking this question in 2001, more Americans now say that it is not the federal government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage (50%) than say it is (47%).

Also, props to Gazette Information Technology Director Brad Shaw, who passed on this gem from Twitter: “Journalism teacher to his students: ‘Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is interesting, but what they hide is crucial.’”

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“A new economy is taking root that will help create the next tier of powerhouse cities in America,” writes Monitor reporter Ron Scherer. “Just as the Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s and the Information Age of the past 40 years helped reshape the urban and regional balance of power in the U.S., forces are now at work that will shape who prospers in the economy of tomorrow.”

While a number of cities are mentioned in the article, Colorado Springs isn’t mentioned once. Of course the analysis in one news report is hardly cause for alarm, but it raises good questions and the future for Colorado Springs. Where does our city rank?

Colorado Springs ranked 28th for economic strength in a September report by the Brookings Institution that examined 100 metropolitan areas. The ranking accounts for changes in employment, production of goods and services and housing prices. We’re in the company of cities such as Buffalo and Denver. Austin, Texas, was ranked No. 1, while Youngstown, Ohio, was the worst.

How about clean technology and the jobs associated with that burgeoning industry? Colorado Springs didn’t make the list of the top 15 metro areas for clean-tech job activity put out in October by Clean Edge, Inc.

Colorado Springs also isn’t anywhere near the top when it comes to the value of exports of goods produced here, which is probably no surprise as the city has a relatively small population, and it doesn’t have a major airport, seaport or other feature that would facilitate lots of foreign trade. As with all of these numbers, foreign trade is a limited measurement of economic strength, and a lot of study would be necessary to get close to what the numbers mean. But companies do export a large amount of goods from Colorado Springs, $975 million in the first half of 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The top-exporting metropolitan area was New York City, at nearly $50 billion during that period.

Here’s a look at the value of foreign trade per capita for Colorado Springs and 10 similar-size metro areas.

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* Approximately 18.5 percent of U.S. servicemembers who have returned from Afghanistan and Iraq currently have post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, and 19.5 percent report experiencing a traumatic brain injury during deployment.
* Roughly half of those who need treatment for these conditions seek it, but only slightly more than half who receive treatment get minimally adequate care.
* Improving access to high-quality care (i.e., treatment supported by scientific evidence) can be cost-effective and improve recovery rates.

The consequences of untreated mental health problems can be severe. Remember The Gazette’s series of stories in July examining the violence wrought by members of one Fort Carson unit. I’m reluctant to suggest a casual relationship between PTSD and violence, but it’s definitely a subject worthy for discussion.

Another Rand study released this week, based on a survey of military personnel, found respondents said “having a gay or lesbian colleague in their unit had no significant impact on their unit’s cohesion or readiness.”

Today I’m introducing a new feature in Data Geek that will highlight research of interest to the Pikes Peak region. It’s called Study Buddy (clever, I know). If you know of research that ought to get wider exposure in our area, please send me a link.

UPDATE: Here’s a two-page document listing resources to help veterans with PTSD, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

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