Estimated number of U.S. children responsible for the caretaking of a family member : 1,400,000

Estimated portion of antibiotics prescribed in the United States that are unnecessary : 3/10

Portion of Americans who favor replacing the Affordable Care Act with a single-payer system : 3/5

Average number of abortions per 1,000 women in countries where abortion is illegal or heavily restricted : 37

Where abortion is legal : 34

Percentage change since 2001 in the number of crimes reported at U.S. universities : –34

In the number of forcible sex crimes : +126

Percentage of Africans who believe that being LGBTQ should be criminalized : 45

Number of children detained by the Somalian government last year under suspicion of involvement with rebel groups : 346

Number of child soldiers recruited by the Somalian national army last year : 218

Percentage change over the past year in the number of foreign fighters joining the Islamic State each month : –75

Factor by which the number of American troops in Iraq has increased since the Islamic State’s offensive of June 2014 : 22

Minimum amount earned in 2015 by traffickers smuggling refugees into Europe : $3,000,000,000

Amount the Swiss municipality of Oberwil-Lieli was fined for refusing to admit Syrian refugees : $292,000

Number of refugees the Swiss federal government had asked it to admit : 10

Percentage of Chinese who would allow a refugee to live in their own home : 46

Of Americans : 15

Number of members of the Prohibition Party, the third-oldest U.S. political party : 30

Tons of trash left in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park by people celebrating the marijuana-themed 4/20 holiday : 11

Percentage of Canadian marijuana users who believe that the drug has no effect on their ability to safely drive a car : 44

Portion of U.S. teenagers who think they are addicted to their mobile devices : 1/2

Number of successive years that the U.S. suicide rate has increased : 15

Date on which Louisiana expanded its hate-crime laws to include offenses against police officers : 5/26/2016

Amount for which George Zimmerman auctioned the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin : $250,000

Percentage of black Chicagoans who say it’s very likely that a young person in their area will fall victim to violent crime : 49

Who say it’s not at all likely : 3

Number of U.S. states in which a 17-year-old criminal defendant is automatically tried as an adult : 9

Percentage of U.S. universities that consider an applicant’s criminal record as part of the admission process : 66

Portion of U.S. school districts that hold active-shooter drills : 2/3

Estimated number of Mississippi public-school students who are subject to corporal punishment : 31,236

Cost of a new high-school football stadium approved this year by a Texas school district : $62,800,000

Percentage change since August 2014 in North Dakota’s tax revenue from oil and gas : –65

Percentage by which weekly U.S. coal production has dropped since January 2015 : 44

Portion of U.S. cities that failed to meet World Health Organization guidelines for air-pollution levels last year : 1/5

Of European cities : 3/5

Estimated portion of U.S. public swimming pools that are in violation of health and safety regulations : 4/5

Number of condoms distributed by the International Olympic Committee for the 2012 London Summer Games : 150,000

For the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games : 450,000

Number of people on the waiting list of a London restaurant where patrons are allowed to dine in the nude : 46,000

Portion of Americans who favor replacing the Affordable Care Act with a single-payer system : 3/5

August Index Sources

1 American Association of Caregiving Youth (Boca Raton, Fla.)
2 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta)
3 Gallup (Washington)
4,5 Guttmacher Institute (N.Y.C.)
6,7 National Center for Education Statistics (Washington)
8 International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (Geneva)
9,10 United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (N.Y.C.)
11,12 U.S. Department of Defense (Arlington, Va.)
13 Europol (The Hague)
14,15 Andreas Glarner (Oberwil-Lieli, Switzerland)
16,17 Amnesty International (London)
18 Prohibition Party (McConnellsburg, Pa.)
19 San Francisco Recreation and Park Department
20 State Farm Canada (Toronto)
21 Common Sense Media (San Francisco)
22 National Center for Health Statistics (Hyattsville, Md.)
23 Louisiana State Legislature (Baton Rouge)
24 United Gun Group (Kansas City, Mo.)
25,26 Kaiser Family Foundation (Menlo Park, Calif.)
27 Juvenile Justice GPS (Pittsburgh)
28 Center for Community Alternatives (Syracuse, N.Y.)
29 U.S. Government Accountability Office (Boston)
30 U.S. Department of Education
31 McKinney Independent School District (Tex.)
32 North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner (Bismarck)
33 U.S. Energy Information Administration
34,35 World Health Organization (Geneva)
36 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
37,38 International Olympic Committee (Lausanne, Switzerland)
39 Lollipop (London)