Public Research

Although the United States is the only industrialized country that does not require employers to provide paid vacation days and several recent studies have found Americans are taking less vacation than they used to, that may be starting to change, according to Project Time Off, a group financed by the U.S. travel industry.

It turns out those political TV ads we all love to hate may have utility after all. In our most recent 1Q community survey, 48 percent of the respondents found mailers and other political ads to be useful as they made up their minds on how to vote in the special election in 6th Congressional District.

It’s about the money. When we asked participants in our 1Q.com survey to identify the greatest challenge facing their local grade schools in the coming year, nearly 40 percent cited school budgets. One 66-year-old Brookhaven woman put it simply: “More funding!”

While federal and state leaders propose various types of education reform, local residents say our schools deserve decent grades — but could be teaching more practical skills.

When it comes to the holidays, it’s all about family and friends. No contest. When we asked participants in our 1Q community survey recently what they thought was the most important way to celebrate the season, 78 percent said it was to spend time with family or friends.

Question: What is the minimum post-high school education that you think is necessary today to get a good job? Do you think it is worth taking on debt to get more education?