6 facts about America’s students
A projected 50.7 million pre-K-12 students will return to the classroom in U.S. public schools this fall. As the school year gets underway, read key findings about America’s students and their experiences.
Data Labs
-
-
Immigrants or children of immigrants make up at least 12% of 115th Congress
At least 65 of the current voting members of Congress are immigrants or the children of immigrants. These members represent nearly half of U.S. states.
-
For most U.S. workers, real wages have barely budged in decades
Despite some ups and downs over the past several decades, today’s real average wage in the U.S. has about the same purchasing power it did 40 years ago. And most of what wage gains there have been have flowed to the highest-paid tier of workers.
-
Moderates in Congress go local on Facebook more than the most ideological members
For the average moderate legislator, about 54% of a member’s Facebook posts discussed local issues between 2015 and 2017. But for the average very liberal or very conservative legislator, just 38% of posts dealt with local issues.
-
‘Anger’ topped ‘love’ when Facebook users reacted to lawmakers’ posts after 2016 election
The U.S. congressional Facebook audience used the “angry” button in response to lawmakers’ posts nearly 14 million times following the 2016 election.
-
Taking Sides on Facebook: How Congressional Outreach Changed Under President Trump
Democratic legislators’ opposition to political adversaries on Facebook spiked after Trump’s election, while “angry” reactions to posts by members of Congress increased among followers.
-
Senate’s August recess could be its shortest in decades
Mitch McConnell’s decision to shorten the chamber’s August recess isn’t unprecedented. But in an election year – when a third of senators are on the campaign trail – it’s unusual.
-
The news that bots share on Twitter tends not to focus on politics
On Twitter, suspected bots are far more active in sharing links to news sites focusing on nonpolitical content than to sites with a political focus.
-
U.S. population keeps growing, but House of Representatives is same size as in Taft era
The U.S. House of Representatives has one voting member (435 in total) for every 747,000 or so Americans. That’s by far the highest ratio of population to representatives of any industrialized democracy, and the highest it’s ever been in U.S. history.
