Wednesday, July 31, 2013

2011 FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households

In June 2011, the FDIC sponsored the second National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households to collect data on the number of U.S. households that are unbanked and underbanked, their demographic characteristics, and their reasons for being unbanked and underbanked. This survey was conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau as a special supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The first survey was conducted in January 2009 and results were released on December 2009. Teamed with the rich demographic and geographic data available through the CPS, this survey continues to present a wealth of previously unavailable data on unbanked and underbanked households are available at the national, state, and large metropolitan statistical area (MSA) levels. It is hoped that these survey results will help better inform policymakers and the industry about economic inclusion issues, and promote the goal of ensuring that all Americans have access to basic, safe, and affordable bank services.

The FDIC undertook this effort to address a gap in the availability of comprehensive data on the number of unbanked and underbanked households in the United States. The FDIC also conducted this survey to comply with Section 7 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Conforming Amendments Act of 2005 that requires it to conduct ongoing surveys of banks efforts to serve the unbanked and provide insights into the size of the unbanked and underbanked markets. Some of the key overall findings from the 2011 include:

8.2 percent of US households are unbanked. This represents 1 in 12 households in the nation, or nearly 10 million in total.
20.1 percent of US households are underbanked. This represents one in five households, or 24 million households. The 2011 underbanked rate in 2011 is higher than the 2009 rate of 18.2 percent, although the proportions are not directly comparable because of differences in the two surveys.
29.3 percent of households do not have a savings account, while about 10 percent do not have a checking account. About two-thirds of households have both checking and savings accounts.

More from FDIC.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

HUD USPS ZIP Code Crosswalk Files

One of the many challenges that social science researchers and practitioners face is the difficulty of relating United States Postal Service (USPS) ZIP codes to Census Bureau geographies. There are valuable data available only at the ZIP code level that, when combined with demographic data tabulated at various Census geography levels, could open up new avenues of exploration.

While some acceptable methods of combining ZIP codes and Census geography exist, they have limitations. To provide additional avenues for merging these data, PD&R has released the HUD-USPS Crosswalk Files. These unique files are derived from data in the quarterly USPS Vacancy Data. They originate directly from the USPS; are updated quarterly, making them highly responsive to changes in ZIP code configurations; and reflect the locations of both business and residential addresses. The latter feature is of particular interest to housing researchers because many of the phenomena that they study are based on housing unit or address. By using an allocation method based on residential addresses rather than by area or by population, analysts can take into account not only the spatial distribution of population, but also the spatial distribution of residences. This enables a slightly more nuanced approach to allocating data between disparate geographies.

More HERE.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Segregation/Intergration Data: 2010 Dissimilarity Indices for Sixty-Two Places in NYS

From the Herkimer and Oneida census guru, Dale Miller:

Here are the most Dissimilarity Indices for 62 New York State places based on the 2010 Census. There are basically three sets of indices in this single table: Dissimilarity indices between non-Hispanic whites and blacks, non-Hispanic whites and Asians, and Non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics. The Dissimilarity Index is the most commonly used measure of segregation between two groups, reflecting their relative distributions across neighborhoods within a city or metropolitan area. It can range in value from 0, indicating complete integration, to 100, indicating complete segregation. In most cities and metro areas, however, the values are somewhere between those extremes.

Friday, July 26, 2013

In Climbing Income Ladder, Location Matters

From the New York Times:

A new study other researchers are calling the most detailed portrait yet of income mobility in the United States.

The study — based on millions of anonymous earnings records and being released this week by a team of top academic economists — is the first with enough data to compare upward mobility across metropolitan areas. These comparisons provide some of the most powerful evidence so far about the factors that seem to drive people’s chances of rising beyond the station of their birth, including education, family structure and the economic layout of metropolitan areas.

Climbing the income ladder occurs less often in the Southeast and industrial Midwest, the data shows, with the odds notably low in Atlanta, Charlotte, Memphis, Raleigh, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Columbus. By contrast, some of the highest rates occur in the Northeast, Great Plains and West, including in New York, Boston, Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, Seattle and large swaths of California and Minnesota.

“Where you grow up matters,” said Nathaniel Hendren, a Harvard economist and one of the study’s authors. “There is tremendous variation across the U.S. in the extent to which kids can rise out of poverty.”

That variation does not stem simply from the fact that some areas have higher average incomes: upward mobility rates, Mr. Hendren added, often differ sharply in areas where average income is similar, like Atlanta and Seattle.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act: July 26

This week marks the 23rd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which guarantees equal opportunity for people with disabilities in public accommodations, commercial facilities, employment, transportation, state and local government services and telecommunications.

Population Distribution

56.7 million
Number of people with a disability living in the United States in 2010. They represented 19 percent of the civilian noninstitutionalized population. Disabilities include, for instance, having difficulty seeing, hearing, having speech understood, walking, bathing, dressing, eating, preparing meals, going outside the home, or doing housework, having Alzheimer’s, dementia, autism, cerebral palsy, or dyslexia, and being frequently depressed or anxious.
By age —
• 8 percent of children under 15 had disabilities.
• 21 percent of people 15 and older had disabilities.
• 17 percent of people 21 to 64 had disabilities.
• 50 percent of adults 65 and older had disabilities.
Source: Americans with Disabilities: 2010
20%
Percentage of females with a disability, compared with 17 percent of males.

Where They Live
19%
Percent of the civilian noninstitutionalized population in West Virginia with a disability ─ the highest rate of any state in the nation. Utah, at 9 percent, had the lowest rate. Source: 2011 American Community Survey, Table R1810

Specific Disabilities
7.6 million
Number of people 15 and older who had a hearing difficulty. Among people 65 and older, 4 million had difficulty hearing. Source: Americans with Disabilities: 2010
8.1 million
Number of people 15 and older with a vision difficulty. Source: Americans with Disabilities: 2010
30.6 million
Number of people 15 and older who had difficulty walking or climbing stairs. Source: Americans with Disabilities: 2010
3.6 million
Number of people 15 and older who used a wheelchair to assist with mobility. This compares with 11.6 million people who used a cane, crutches or walker. Source: Americans with Disabilities: 2010
2.4 million
Number of people 15 and older who had Alzheimer’s disease, senility or dementia. Source: Americans with Disabilities: 2010
12.0 million
Number of people 15 and older who required the assistance of others in order to perform one or more activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, doing housework, and preparing meals.Source: Americans with Disabilities: 2010

On the Job
33%
Percentage of the civilian noninstitutionalized population 18 to 64 with a disability who were employed. Source: 2011 American Community Survey, Table B18120
53%
Percentage of the civilian labor force with a disability who worked as either service workers (except protective services), with 18.2 percent, administrative support (15.1 percent), sales workers (10.4 percent) and management, business and finance (8.9 percent). Source: Disability Employment Tabulation, from 2008-2010 American Community Survey
315,000
The number of janitors and building cleaners with a disability ─ the most common occupation for people with disabilities. Among occupations with 100,000 or more people, dishwashers had the highest disability rate, with 14.3 percent. Source: Disability Employment Tabulation, from 2008-2010 American Community Survey

Earnings and Poverty

$19,735
Median earnings in the past 12 months for people with a disability. This compares with $30,285 for those without a disability. Source: 2011 American Community Survey, Table B18140
323,000
Number of employed people with disabilities earning $100,000 or more annually. This amounts to 4 percent of all people with disabilities who were employed, compared with 8 percent of people without a disability who were employed. Source: Disability Employment Tabulation, from 2008-2010 American Community Survey, Table Set 7A
23%
Percentage of people with a disability who were in poverty. By comparison, those without a disability had a poverty rate of 15 percent. Source: 2011 American Community Survey, Table B18130

Government Assistance

30%
Among people who received income-based government assistance, the percentage who had a disability; 18 percent of assistance recipients had difficulty walking or climbing stairs. Source: Disability Characteristics of Income-Based Government Assistance Recipients in the United States: 2011(from American Community Survey)
57%
Percentage of assistance recipients with a disability who received only in-kind assistance. By comparison, 2 percent received cash assistance only and 41 percent received both kinds. Source: Disability Characteristics of Income-Based Government Assistance Recipients in the United States: 2011 (from American Community Survey)
58%
Among people who received both cash and in-kind assistance, the percentage who had a disability. Source: Disability Characteristics of Income-Based Government Assistance Recipients in the United States: 2011 (from American Community Survey)
42%
The percentage of income-based assistance recipients in West Virginia who had a disability, which led all states. Arizona ranked the lowest, at 25 percent. Source: Disability Characteristics of Income-Based Government Assistance Recipients in the United States: 2011 (from American Community Survey)

Health Insurance

10%
Percentage of people with a disability who lacked health insurance. Those without a disability were more likely to be without coverage (16 percent). Source: 2011 American Community Survey, Table B18135

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

National Transportation Atlas Databases 2013

The National Transportation Atlas Databases 2013 (NTAD2013) is a set of nationwide geographic databases of transportation facilities, transportation networks, and associated infrastructure. These datasets include spatial information for transportation modal networks and intermodal terminals, as well as the related attribute informa- tion for these features. Metadata documentation, as prescribed by the International Organization of Standards, is also provided for each database. The data support research, analysis, and decision-making across all modes of transportation. They are most useful at the national level, but have major applications at regional, State, and local scales throughout the transportation community.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Capital Punishment, 2011 – Statistical Tables

At yearend 2011, 35 states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons held 3,082 inmates under sentence of death, which was 57 fewer than at yearend 2010 (figure 1). This represents the eleventh consecutive year in which the number of inmates
under sentence of death decreased.

Four states (California, Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania) held more than half of all inmates on death row on December 31, 2011. The Federal Bureau of Prisons held 56 inmates under sentence of death at yearend.

Of prisoners under sentence of death at yearend, 55% were white and 42% were black. The 387 Hispanic inmates under sentence of death accounted for 14% of inmates with a known ethnicity. Ninety-eight percent of inmates under sentence of death were male, and 2% were female. The race and sex of inmates under sentence of death has remained relatively unchanged since 2000.

More from Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Vital Statistics on Congress

For more than three decades, Vital Statistics on Congress, a joint effort undertaken by Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute and Tom Mann of Brookings, in collaboration with Michael Malbin of the Campaign Finance Institute, has been a go-to reference guide for Congressional watchers for impartial data on Congress and its members.

Vital Statistics’ purpose has always been to collect useful data on our first branch of government – in the election and composition of its membership as well as its formal procedure, such as the use of the filibuster, informal norms, party structure and staff. This dataset also documents the increasing polarization of Congress and the demographics of those who serve in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives

Friday, July 19, 2013

Sequestration-Related Budget Cuts; Regional, State, and Local Impacts

C2ER has compiled a brief summary of sequestration-related budget cuts by government agency. These items were chosen specifically for their potential impact on regional/state, and local programs.

Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)

Regional Input-Output Modeling System (RIMS) - BEA eliminated the RIMS II product in FY 2013. RIMS II provides modeling estimates to the private sector, Federal, state, and local governments on changes in economic activity.

Local Area Personal Income Statistics (LAPI) - BEA also eliminated detailed statistics within its LAPI program. This is the only source for county and metropolitan area personal income statistics.

Foreign Direct Investment Analytical Products - BEA eliminated analytical activities related to FDI and the operations of multinational companies (MNCs), affecting some annual publications as well as occasional topical papers. BEA also stopped publishing analytical products that provide insight into offshoring, the impact of MNCs on the domestic economy, and the impact of global value chains for measuring economic activity.

Find more information here.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

Measuring Green Jobs - The BLS eliminated the Measuring Green Jobs products. This includes the special employer surveys that provide data on the occupations and wages of jobs related to green technologies and practices, as well as career information related to green jobs.

Mass Layoff Statistics Program - Also eliminates is the mass layoff program that provides information identifying, describing, and tracking the effects of major job cutbacks in the economy.

International Labor Comparisons Program - The International Labor Comparisons (ILC) program has also been eliminated. This program adjusts foreign data to a common framework of concepts, definitions, and classifications to facilitate data comparisons between the United States and other countries.

Find more information here.

Census Bureau

Economic Programs - A six-month delay in the delivery of over 1,600 Economic Census products due to staffing reductions at the National Processing Center and Census headquarters.

2020 Decennial Census Programs - Budget cuts mean that Census cannot carry out the planned research and testing needed for work on design options for the 2020 Census. Reduced funding levels also force the delay of preparatory work related to the FY 2014 field tests, delaying the acquisition of information needed to make design decisions in FY 2015 for the 2020 Census.

Geographic Support Program - Reductions will delay decisions about the viability of cost-saving designs associated with the 2020 Census address canvassing operation, scheduled for later in the decade.

American Community Survey - Cuts to the American Community Survey (ACS) eliminate much needed investments in the ACS processing infrastructure, program management, and research program.

Demographic Programs - Cuts to these programs prevent the implementation of new supplemental poverty measures. These cuts will also delay data releases for the 2014 panel for the Survey of Income and Program Participation.

Find more information here.

Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Annual Energy Review - The EIA has suspended publication of the Annual Energy Review and its companion publication, Energy Perspectives.

Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) - Delayed to FY 2014. It has also delayed upgrades to its critical weekly petroleum and natural gas statistical reports.

EIA's FY 2013 and FY 2014 Budget Requests to Congress can be viewed here.

United States Department of Agriculture

National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) - The National Agricultural Statistics Service is suspending a number of statistical surveys and reports.

Find more information here.

USDA Economic Research Service (ERS)

Agricultural Productivity in the U.S. - Updates of the State-level statistics are suspended.

County-Level Data Sets (“County Look-Up Tables”) - Updates of socioeconomic indicators in this format will be phased out.

Find more information here.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

World Statistics Pocketbook 2013 Edition

From the United Nations

The World Statistics Pocketbook is an annual compilation of key economic, social and environmental indicators, presented in one-page profiles. This edition includes country profiles for 216 countries or areas of the world. Prepared by the United Nations Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, it responds to General Assembly resolution 2626 (XXV), in which the Secretary-General is requested to supply basic national data that will increase international public awareness of countries' development efforts.

The indicators shown are selected from the wealth of international statistical information compiled regularly by the Statistics Division and the Population Division of the United Nations, the statistical services of the United Nations specialized agencies and other international organizations and institutions.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Exports from 50 U.S. Metropolitan Areas Topped $1 Trillion in 2012

From the U.S. Department of Commerce:


For the first time ever, the Houston metropolitan area ranked No. 1, with total exports of $110 billion (an increase of 5.6 percent over 2011). The New York City metro area ranked second with $102 billion in exports. Thirty-one of the top 50 metropolitan area exporters recorded positive growth in exports between 2011 and 2012. Twenty-nine of these areas set record export highs last year.

Among the top 25 metropolitan areas, the Washington, D.C., metro area recorded the highest growth between 2011 and 2012, increasing exports by nearly 43 percent. Other metropolitan areas that exhibited high growth in exports included San Antonio (up more than 33 percent from 2011), and Seattle (up more than 22 percent from 2011).


Top 10 Metropolitan Area

1. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX

2. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA

3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA

4. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI

5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

6. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL

7. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI

8. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

9. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

10. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

Saturday, July 13, 2013

The Rise of Single Fathers: A Ninefold Increase Since 1960

From Pew Research Center:

A record 8% of households with minor children in the United States are headed by a single father, up from just over 1% in 1960, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Decennial Census and American Community Survey data.
The number of single father households has increased about ninefold since 1960, from less than 300,000 to more than 2.6 million in 2011.1 In comparison, the number of single mother households increased more than fourfold during that time period, up to 8.6 million in 2011, from 1.9 million in 1960.

As a result, men make up a growing share of single parent householders.2 In 1960, about 14% of single parent households were headed by fathers, today almost one-quarter (24%) are.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S.

This data product summarizes the adoption of herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant crops since their introduction in 1996.

The tables for corn, cotton, and soybeans, provide data obtained by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) in the June Agricultural Survey for 2000 through 2013.

Many people are interested in information about global genetically engineered (GE) acreage. USDA does not collect these data. Estimates are produced by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and can be found in the report, Global Status of Commercialized Transgenic Crops: 2012.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Median Price of Homes Purchased Rose 2.3 Percent to $110,000,

Homeowners in the U.S. paid a median price of $110,000 for their homes, according to a 2011 American Housing Survey profile released today. This is an increase of 2.3 percent from the $107,500 reported in the 2009 survey. The median purchase price of homes constructed in the past four years was higher at $235,000, down 2.1 percent from the $240,000 reported for new construction in 2009.

The profile released today provides information on the nation’s housing costs, mortgages and a variety of other physical and financial characteristics about housing in the U.S. The statistics come from the American Housing Survey, which is sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, and is the most comprehensive housing survey in the United States. National data are collected every odd-numbered year and metropolitan area data are collected on a rotating basis. The Census Bureau also released profiles for 29 selected metro areas.

“The last five years remind us how central housing is to each of us personally, to the fiscal health of our cities and counties, and the national economy. For 40 years, the American Housing Survey has provided a unique set of data that connects the detailed characteristics of who is living in homes to the detailed characteristics of the homes themselves,” said Kurt Usowski, HUD’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs. “From the American Housing Survey, we can see why people chose to move, how often homes need repairs, and the extent to which housing costs are outpacing income growth. All this information can help inform policymaking around continued recovery in the U.S. and in metropolitan areas around the country.”

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with HUD on these profiles,” said the Census Bureau's Arthur Cresce, Jr., Assistant Division Chief for Housing Characteristics. “Analysts in government and business study the nation's housing very closely and the AHS yields a wealth of information that can be used by professionals in nearly every field for planning, decision-making, and market research.”

Some highlights for the U.S. include:

Physical Characteristics
--The median year occupied homes were built in the U.S. was 1974.
--Nationally, piped gas was the most prevalent home heating source, used by 50.4 percent of occupied homes. Electricity was used by 35.3 percent.
--Among owner-occupied homes in the U.S., 46.3 percent had working carbon monoxide detectors.
--Among all U.S. homes, 72.5 percent of owner-occupied units had central air.

Financial Characteristics
--Median monthly expenditures for homeowners in the U.S. totaled $151 for real estate taxes, $121 for electricity and $58 for property insurance.
--Among U.S. owner-occupied homes, 65.4 percent had a regular and/or home equity mortgage and 23.4 percent had a refinanced primary mortgage.
--The median monthly mortgage payment for homeowners was $1,015 in 2011.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Firearms Reported Lost and Stolen

From the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

The report gives an overview, for calendar year 2012, of the lost and stolen gun file entries in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), and of the lost and stolen firearm reports submitted by Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) to ATF. This report will be updated and published annually.
Lost and stolen firearms pose a substantial threat to public safety and to law enforcement. Those that steal firearms commit violent crimes with stolen guns, transfer stolen firearms to others who commit crimes, and create an unregulated secondary market for firearms, including a market for those who are prohibited by law from possessing a gun. Moreover, thieves and illicit traffickers often obliterate the serial numbers of stolen firearms so that if a stolen firearm is later recovered by law enforcement, it cannot identified as stolen or traced to the original purchaser. Lost firearms pose a similar threat. Like stolen firearms, they are most often bought and sold in an unregulated secondary market where law enforcement is unable to trace transactions. As a result, when a lost or stolen gun is later recovered from a crime scene, tracing (which only identifies the original manufacturer, the licensed dealer who sold the firearm, and the original purchaser) will not provide a direct link to the perpetrator of the crime

Monday, July 8, 2013

Global and Regional Estimates of Violence against Women

Source: World Health Organization

From the Press Release:

The report [PDF] details the impact of violence on the physical and mental health of women and girls. This can range from broken bones to pregnancy-related complications, mental problems and impaired social functioning....

The report’s key findings on the health impacts of violence by an intimate partner were:

Death and injury – The study found that globally, 38% of all women who were murdered were murdered by their intimate partners, and 42% of women who have experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of a partner had experienced injuries as a result.

Depression – Partner violence is a major contributor to women’s mental health problems, with women who have experienced partner violence being almost twice as likely to experience depression compared to women who have not experienced any violence.
Alcohol use problems – Women experiencing intimate partner violence are almost twice as likely as other women to have alcohol-use problems.

Sexually transmitted infections – Women who experience physical and/or sexual partner violence are 1.5 times more likely to acquire syphilis infection, chlamydia, or gonorrhoea. In some regions (including sub-Saharan Africa), they are 1.5 times more likely to acquire HIV.

Unwanted pregnancy and abortion – Both partner violence and non-partner sexual violence are associated with unwanted pregnancy; the report found that women experiencing physical and/or sexual partner violence are twice as likely to have an abortion than women who do not experience this violence.

Low birth-weight babies – Women who experience partner violence have a 16% greater chance of having a low birth-weight baby.

INFOGRAPHIC/

Friday, July 5, 2013

The ZIP Code Turns 50; Here Are 9 That Stand Out

From NPR:

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Zone Improvement Plan the network of ZIP codes we use for everything from mail delivery to credit card security.

The U.S. Postal Service began using the five-digit codes on July 1, 1963, hoping they would improve the efficiency and speed of mail sorting. Since then, the codes have assumed a role in the identities of many Americans, helping to define where they live or work.

In recognition of the anniversary (and because we are geeky), we've examined the list of more than 40,000 ZIP codes. Here are nine worth noting, based on data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau and Esri, a leading geographic software company:

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Celebrating American Inventions

This week, the USA.gov blog is highlighting some prominent inventions that have impacted all of our lives since the founding of the country. It will highlight one invention from the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

The Connectivity Continuum: Rising Internet Use Shows Impact of Smartphones on Digital Divide

From the New Strategist:

Twenty-seven percent of Americans are highly connected to the Internet, accessing the Internet at multiple locations with multiple devices. Another 16 percent of Americans are not connected at all to the Internet, lacking any kind of computer or Internet use. These are the two extremes of what the Census Bureau calls the "connectivity continuum," with everyone else at various stages of connectivity in between (home-only connectivity, single-device connectivity, etc.). At this link you can access the Census Bureau report, Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2011. The report is admittedly dated, but it captures an historic moment--the transition from pre- to post-Internet age when connectivity sharply divided the population. The highly connected and the unconnected were the two largest segments of the population in 2011.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Quarterly Summary of State & Local Tax Revenue

This summary shows quarterly tax revenue statistics on property, sales, license, income and other taxes. Statistics are shown for individual state governments as well as national estimates of total state and local taxes, including 12-month calculations. This quarterly survey has been conducted continuously since 1962.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Canadian information

For Canadian information, you may want to check out Industry Canada which has a business and consumer section. Under the business section, you'll find all types of information.