Gross Bathroom Reality

The real reason only 5 percent of Americans wash their hands effectively

In conducting an extensive study on hand washing, researchers at Michigan State University uncovered some gross truths. And the findings just might make you think twice about shaking someone's hand.

Turns out that after using the bathroom, 10 percent of people skip washing their hands, 33 percent of people don't use soap, and worst of all, a whopping 95 percent of people don't wash their hands correctly.

You might be thinking to yourself right now: "That's not me. I am most definitely in the 5 percent that does it correctly." But are you?

The study found the average washing time for women is 7.07 seconds; for men it is 6.27 seconds. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says people should wash their hands for 15 to 20 seconds, which would give them enough time to sing Happy Birthday twice.

The CDC say that the best way to prevent the spread of diseases is to wash your hands, so from now on you may want to think about warming up your vocal chords before you head over to the sink.

Here are the CDC's official tips for hand washing (apparently, almost everyone needs them):

Get your hands wet by running them under any temperature water and lather on the soap.
Start scrubbing your hands, ensuring that the soap is not only on your palm, but also on the back part of your hand, in between fingers and under fingernails.
After doing this for about 20 seconds, rinse your hands.
Using a clean towel or a drying machine, dry your hands.

Although most people don't wash their hands this thoroughly, hand washers are not entirely at fault for this lack of cleanliness. The study found that the cleaner the sink, the longer somebody spent washing their hands. Also, only 64 percent of the public restrooms observed in the study had signs promoting hand washing.

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income analysis

This is the family income needed for one parent to stay home in Texas

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

The cost of raising a child has ballooned in major metros like Dallas-Fort Worth, forcing many families to weight the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas, that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support their stay-at-home partner and their child, the report found. If both parents worked in the household, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in North Texas, however, is slightly more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $22,337 to raise a child in Dallas-Fort Worth.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report's author says families will look for ways to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family