An Average American Family - By The Numbers Did You Know TV Sets And Stands Injure 43,313 People Each Year?

Among the most treasured holiday pastimes are savoring a meal with loved ones, collapsing on the couch beside the family pet and zoning out in front of the TV - all in the privacy of one’s home.

But consider this: Government statisticians know how much you eat, how much TV you watch, how many pets you have (and what kind), and how much you spent for the privacy of your home.

Much of this minutiae - from public and private sources - has been recorded in a 1,023-page tome called the “Statistical Abstract of the United States,” which has been published annually since 1878.

The 1997 version just came out from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. And while some of its information is dated by several years, it provides what is probably the most comprehensive statistical portrait available of American society.

Here are some of its tidbits about the nation’s 100 million households and 70 million families:

Big spenders: For utilities, cleaning supplies and other furnishings - including couches, the average American household spends $32,277 a year. That includes $4,505 for food, $1,006 for gasoline, $708 for phone calls, $277 for alcohol, $276 for bakery goods and $269 for tobacco.

Clothing gap: Households typically spend $660 a year on clothes for females, but just $425 to outfit males.

Houses: Homes not only are getting pricier, they’re getting bigger, too. The median size of a single-family dwelling was 1,385 square feet in 1970. Today, it’s 1,950 square feet.

Going plastic: About 66 percent of all families use credit cards today - compared with 56 percent in 1989 - and they keep a median unpaid balance of $1,500 from month to month. More than half of the families with cards - or 52 percent - regularly pay off the full amount each month. Another 20 percent sometimes do that, and the remaining 28 percent hardly ever do.

TUBE GLUED:- Householders boast 2.3 television sets on average - compared with 1.4 in 1970. They’re also turning the tubes on more. They watched an average of 1,575 hours per person during 1995 - 105 hours more than in 1990.

PLAYING GAMES - The time spent per person per year on home video games doubled from 12 hours in 1990 to 24 hours in 1995. It’s expected to hit 39 hours by year 2000.

NET SURFING - Nearly 26 million people over age 18 - or about 13 percent of all adults - now have home Internet access. Nearly 17 million peruse the Net during any given month.

PET FANCIERS - Nearly one out of every three households - 32 percent - owns a dog, 27 percent have a cat, 5 percent a bird and 2 percent a horse.

HOME FIRES - Residential blazes kill 3,695 people and injure 19,125 annually.

HURTFUL OBJECTS - Seemingly benign household items can pose a peril. House stairs, ramps, landings and floors cause 1,946,602 injuries a year nationally. The tally is 189,715 for ladders and stools, 108,217 for nursery equipment, 87,875 for home power saws, 43,313 for TV sets and stands, 35,098 for refrigerators and freezers, 35,371 for grooming devices, and 19,656 for garage doors and openers.

WEDDING BELLS - The number of people getting married is dropping. There were 1,954,000 marriages in 1995. During the 1980s, the number was consistently higher than 2.4 million.

SPLITTING UP - The divorce rate also is headed down. In 1995, there were 973,000 divorces. While that’s more than twice as many as in 1950, more than 1.1 million a year was typical during the 1980s.

MISTREATED KIDS - More than 1 million children annually are reported as victims of neglect, sexual or other physical abuse, and other types of mistreatment.

GOOD SCOUTS - About 4.4 million boys and 2.6 million girls belong to scouting organizations.

WORKING WIVES -The percentage of married women who are employed or actively seeking work has nearly doubled - from 32 percent in 1960 to more than 60 percent today. The change is even more marked for women with children. In 1960, 28 percent of them were in the work force. Now it’s about 70 percent.

HOUSEHOLD HELP - Of workers tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “personal and home care aides” are the fastest growing. These workers - who clean houses, cook meals and provide other assistance to residents - totaled 179,000 in 1994. By 2005, according to moderate growth projections, their numbers should reach 391,000 - a 118 percent increase.

FAMILY INCOME - The median family income is $40,611, but the amount varies widely among ethnic and racial groups. It’s $42,646 for white families, $25,970 for black families and $24,570 for families of Hispanic ancestry.

FAMILY WORTH - The median net worth of families is $56,400. But those headed by people with good educations earn far more than those with relatively little schooling. The median net worth of those failing to finish high school is $26,300. For those with high school diplomas, it’s $50,000. And among those with college degrees, the median net worth totals $104,100.

MAKING CONTRIBUTIONS - Households give $1,017 per year to charities, on average. Nearly half of contributing households - 48 percent - donate to religious causes, 20 percent to education, 12 percent to the environment, 9 percent to the arts or cultural purposes, and 6.1 percent to international charities.

POOR KIDS - About 14 million children nationwide live in poverty. That accounts for 20 percent of all youth, or one out of every five.

FAMILY FARMERS - The number of individual or family-owned farms has been slowing shrinking - from 1.8 million in 1987 to less than 1.7 million in 1992. Yet plenty of urban householders still have green thumbs. Since 1985, the yearly sum spent on flowers, seeds and potted plants has tripled from $4.7 billion to $14.2 billion.