In a sharp contrast from four years ago, a large majority of Republicans say their side has been winning more often than it has been losing politically, while Democrats overwhelmingly say their side has been on the losing end more frequently.
Today, 69% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say that on the issues that matter to them, their side has been winning more often than losing, according to a new Pew Research Center survey conducted Feb. 4-15 among 6,395 adults.
Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, just 18% think their side has been winning, while 80% say their side has been losing more often. Read More →
Most Americans feel worn out by the amount of news there is these days – a feeling that has persisted for several years now.
About two-thirds of Americans (66%) feel worn out by the amount of news there is, while far fewer (32%) say they like the amount of news they are getting, according to a Pew Research Center survey of more than 12,000 U.S. adults conducted in October and November of last year – the first survey in the Center’s nearly yearlong Election News Pathways project. This feeling of news fatigue hasn’t escaped journalists either, some of whom have voiced their exhaustion with the news cycle and the seemingly endless stream of information.
Presidents Trump and Xi leave a business leaders event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in November 2017. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images)
The United States and China have long been locked in competition over their standings as economic and world powers. And, in a region where this competition hits close to home, views of the U.S. remain strongly favorable when compared with those of China in the Asia-Pacific.
Across the six Asia-Pacific nations surveyed by Pew Research Center between May 18 and Oct. 2, 2019, a median of 64% have favorable views of the U.S. Positive sentiments are highest in the Philippines and South Korea, with about eight-in-ten respondents holding favorable opinions (80% and 77%, respectively).
The varying ways in which the U.S. government has counted Americans over time offer a glimpse into the country’s past, from the days of slavery to recent waves of immigration. Racial categories, which have been included on every U.S. census since the first one in 1790, have changed from decade to decade, reflecting the politics and science of the times.
It was not until 1960 that people could select their own race. Prior to that, an individual’s race was determined by census takers, known as enumerators. And it was not until 2000 that Americans could choose more than one race to describe themselves, allowing for an estimate of the nation’s multiracial population. In 2020, for the first time, the form asks respondents who choose white or black for their race to give more information about their origins – for example, German, Lebanese, African American or Somali. Read More →
Americans have little confidence in technology companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google to prevent the misuse of their platforms to influence the 2020 presidential election. Above, workers in Facebook’s “war room” in Menlo Park, California, in 2018. (Noah Berger/AFP via Getty Images)
Nearly three-quarters of Americans (74%) express little or no confidence in technology companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google to prevent the misuse of their platforms to influence the 2020 presidential election, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in January. At the same time, 78% say these companies have a responsibility to prevent such misuse.
Confidence in technology companies to prevent the misuse of their platforms is even lower than it was in the weeks before the 2018 midterm elections, when about two-thirds of adults had little confidence these companies would prevent election influence on their platforms.
Overall, just a quarter of adults say they are confident in tech companies to prevent their platforms from being exploited for undue influence in the election, with 20% saying they are somewhat confident and only 5% saying they are very confident. An overwhelming majority expresses low confidence in tech companies, including 43% who say they are not too confident and about three-in-ten (31%) who say they are not at all confident.
The federal minimum wage has stood at $7.25 an hour since July 2009. Given the partisan split between the House and Senate, it seems destined to remain there for the foreseeable future, despite broad public support for raising it. But in some ways, Congress’ deadlock is almost a side issue to the main debate: For the past decade or so, most of the action on minimum wages has been in states, counties and cities. In Virginia, for instance, lawmakers recently approved legislation to raise the commonwealth’s minimum wage, though the Senate and House of Delegates need to reconcile their differing versions.
Virginia is one of 21 states where the $7.25 federal minimum applies. Those states contain about 39% of all U.S. wage and salary workers – roughly 58 million people – according to our analysis of state minimum-wage laws and federal employment data. In the 29 other states and the District of Columbia, minimum wages range from $8.25 (in Nevada, for employers who don’t provide health benefits) to $16.39 (for the largest employers in Seattle). Read More →
A Burmese immigrant phlebotomist at St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, draws blood from a patient. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Immigrants remain more likely than U.S.-born workers to work in lower-skill occupations. But the share of immigrants in high-skill, nonmechanical jobs has risen in recent decades, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of federal government data. The shift has been most notable in jobs that prioritize analytical skills, such as science and math, or fundamental skills, such as writing and speaking. A rising share of immigrants also work in jobs in which social skills like negotiation and persuasion are important.
Within this broad overall pattern, there are key differences between immigrant groups. Hispanic immigrants – by far the largest group of immigrant workers – are for the most part employed in lower-skill occupations. Asian immigrants – the largest bloc of new arrivals – work principally in higher-skill occupations. The distribution of skills among black immigrants falls between these two extremes, whereas white immigrant workers are spread across high-skill jobs like their Asian counterparts.
Overall, the share of immigrants in the U.S. labor force has increased sharply in recent decades, from 10% in 1995 to 17% in 2018. Immigrants are also expected to play the primary role in the growth of the country’s workforce through 2035. Read More →
U.S. intelligence officials have reportedly warned members of Congress that Russia is interfering on Donald Trump’s behalf in the 2020 presidential election. Amid these new allegations, here are some fast facts about how Americans view Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin, based on previously published Pew Research Center surveys:
Americans generally support making tuition free at public colleges and universities for all U.S. students. Above, students at Long Beach State University in California in 2017. (Scott Varley/Digital First Media/Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty Images)
American adults generally support making tuition free at public colleges and universities for all U.S. students, yet there are sizable partisan and demographic differences in views of tuition-free college.
Republicans, in particular, are divided by age and educational attainment in opinions on this issue.
Among all U.S. adults, 63% favor making tuition at public colleges free, including 37% who strongly favor the proposal. Slightly more than a third oppose tuition-free college (36%), with 21% strongly opposed, according to a Pew Research Center conducted in January.
Most Latino registered voters say they want government to be more involved in solving the nation’s problems, a view that is reflected in their broad support for raising the minimum wage, government involvement in health care and stricter gun laws, according to a national Pew Research Center survey of Latino adults conducted in December.
A record 32 million Latinos are projected to be eligible to vote in November’s general election, exceeding the number of black eligible voters for the first time. About 62% of Latino registered voters identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, while 34% affiliate with or lean to the Republican Party.
Most Hispanic voters (71%) say the government should do more to solve problems, while 27% say government is doing too many things better left to businesses and individuals.
Hispanic Democratic and Republican registered voters have sharply different views on the role of government, though the gap is not as wide as it is among the broader U.S. public. Among Hispanic voters, 82% who identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party say the government should do more to solve problems, compared with 51% of those who affiliate with or lean toward the GOP.
In a sharp contrast from four years ago, a large majority of Republicans say their side has been winning more often than it has been losing politically, while Democrats overwhelmingly say their side has been on the losing end more frequently.
The varying ways in which the U.S. government has counted Americans over time offer a glimpse into the country’s past, from the days of slavery to recent waves of immigration. Racial categories, which have been included on every U.S. census since the first one in 1790, 
