Weekly Quiz: Financial Literacy, Freeform Housing, and Falling Back to the Office

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const title = "Weekly Quiz: Financial Literacy, Freeform Housing, and Falling Back to the Office"; const date = "January 10, 2026"; const data = [ { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/WEB_RTO-Mandates_DEC25_02-1536x1024.jpg", title: "Welcome Back to the Office. You Won’t Get Anything Done", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/return-to-office-mandates/", question: "Despite widespread resistance to return-to-office policies, many companies continue to enforce them aggressively. What did one 2024 study from the University of Pittsburgh reveal about employee satisfaction following the implementation of RTO mandates?", options: [ "Employee satisfaction declined in 50 percent of companies", "Employee satisfaction declined in 65 percent of companies", "Employee satisfaction declined in 84 percent of companies", "Employee satisfaction declined in 99 percent of companies", ], answer: "Employee satisfaction declined in 99 percent of companies", correct: "Unsurprisingly, employees are almost universally against RTO mandates. One 2024 study from the University of Pittsburgh found that 99 percent of companies that implemented them saw a drop in employee satisfaction. Part of the problem is that people are back to the commutes they avoided during the pandemic. As housing costs increased over the past few years, many people moved away from cities with the expectation that they could continue to work remotely. Countless reports have also documented how RTO rules negatively impact women in particular. In places where day care is either unaffordable or unavailable, women typically shoulder the consequences.", incorrect: "Unsurprisingly, employees are almost universally against RTO mandates. One 2024 study from the University of Pittsburgh found that 99 percent of companies that implemented them saw a drop in employee satisfaction. Part of the problem is that people are back to the commutes they avoided during the pandemic. As housing costs increased over the past few years, many people moved away from cities with the expectation that they could continue to work remotely. Countless reports have also documented how RTO rules negatively impact women in particular. In places where day care is either unaffordable or unavailable, women typically shoulder the consequences.", }, { title: "The Housing Market Isn’t for Single People", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/the-housing-market-isnt-for-single-people/", question: "In today’s housing market, rising prices, stagnant wages, and stricter lending rules mean that, for many people, buying a home now requires pooling resources rather than going it alone. In Toronto, this reality made headlines when six friends joined forces to purchase a $1.3-million house. What did they name the house?", options: [ "Clarens Commons", "Parkdale House", "Trinity Collective", "Sixfold Living", ], answer: "Clarens Commons", correct: "The group ranged in age from their late twenties to late thirties, and there were no couples or family members among the six. Just friends. They named the house Clarens Commons and secured a co-ownership mortgage, which may have been the first in the country from a big bank. “We’re very much coming from the housing-as-a-human-right kind of perspective,” said Valery Navarrete, one of the original owners and residents. “We were just seeing friend after friend find a place, be happy to stay for a while, and then get renovicted.”", incorrect: "The group ranged in age from their late twenties to late thirties, and there were no couples or family members among the six. Just friends. They named the house Clarens Commons and secured a co-ownership mortgage, which may have been the first in the country from a big bank. “We’re very much coming from the housing-as-a-human-right kind of perspective,” said Valery Navarrete, one of the original owners and residents. “We were just seeing friend after friend find a place, be happy to stay for a while, and then get renovicted.”", }, { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/Keehn-SaveYourself-1800.jpg", title: "Why You’re Bad with Money", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/why-youre-bad-with-money/", question: "Amidst economic uncertainty and the rise of viral “get rich quick” stories, many young people are bypassing the expertise of traditional financial advisors. According to a 2023 Pew Research survey, what percentage of Gen Z investors are making financial decisions based on social media advice?", options: [ "Nearly 12 percent", "Nearly 29 percent", "Nearly 40 percent", "Nearly 56 percent", ], answer: "Nearly 40 percent", correct: "According to the survey, nearly 40 percent of Gen Z investors say they’ve made financial decisions based on TikTok, YouTube, or Reddit—before speaking to a financial professional. A 2022 Ontario Securities Commission report found that, while digital platforms have increased access to financial content, they’ve also amplified misinformation, especially around speculative assets, like meme stocks and crypto. FOMO is a real behavioural trigger—and social media supercharges it. “When it feels like everyone else is getting rich overnight, your brain goes into survival mode,” says financial psychologist Brad Klontz. “It’s less about greed and more about fear—fear of being left behind.”", incorrect: "According to the survey, nearly 40 percent of Gen Z investors say they’ve made financial decisions based on TikTok, YouTube, or Reddit—before speaking to a financial professional. A 2022 Ontario Securities Commission report found that, while digital platforms have increased access to financial content, they’ve also amplified misinformation, especially around speculative assets, like meme stocks and crypto. FOMO is a real behavioural trigger—and social media supercharges it. “When it feels like everyone else is getting rich overnight, your brain goes into survival mode,” says financial psychologist Brad Klontz. “It’s less about greed and more about fear—fear of being left behind.”", }, { title: "How to Keep Your House Clean", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/how-to-keep-your-house-clean/", question: "Many of us are feeling increasing pressure to keep picture-perfect homes—homes where even mess is expected to look intentional. There's been a lot of writing on cleanliness, including a 2010 bestselling book that helped fuel today’s anxiety around clutter. What is the title of the book?", options: [ "Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson", "Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley", "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo", "Unf*ck Your Habitat by Rachel Hoffman", ], answer: "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo", correct: "In 2010, Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was published in Japan. In the years that followed, it became a global bestseller, encouraging the world to get tidy by getting rid of our extra crap (after assessing its ability to spark joy). Kondo’s clutter war was key in the rise of the minimalist aesthetic, but fifteen years on, her most lasting legacy is the idea that all of our spaces—our living rooms but also our clothing drawers and our laundry nooks—should be not just uncluttered but beautiful. More recent trends like #cluttercore or “the messy girls aesthetic” often get positioned as a form of resistance against Kondo’s war on mess, but in fact, these carefully calibrated expressions of maximalism are another strike in the aesthetic arms race: now even mess is supposed to be pretty.", incorrect: "In 2010, Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was published in Japan. In the years that followed, it became a global bestseller, encouraging the world to get tidy by getting rid of our extra crap (after assessing its ability to spark joy). Kondo’s clutter war was key in the rise of the minimalist aesthetic, but fifteen years on, her most lasting legacy is the idea that all of our spaces—our living rooms but also our clothing drawers and our laundry nooks—should be not just uncluttered but beautiful. More recent trends like #cluttercore or “the messy girls aesthetic” often get positioned as a form of resistance against Kondo’s war on mess, but in fact, these carefully calibrated expressions of maximalism are another strike in the aesthetic arms race: now even mess is supposed to be pretty.", }, ];