Since the early days of the U.S. women’s rights movement, the term “feminist” has been a source of much debate. Even in 2020 – 100 years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote – Americans differ over how well the term describes them and how they see the movement, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
Read More →
The U.S. Hispanic population reached a record 60.6 million in 2019, up 930,000 over the previous year and up from 50.7 million in 2010, according to newly released U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. Over the past decade, however, population growth among Hispanics has slowed as the annual number of births to Hispanic women has declined and immigration has decreased, particularly from Mexico.
Even so, Latinos remain an important part of the nation’s overall demographic story. Between 2010 and 2019, the Latino share of the total U.S. population increased from 16% to 18%. Latinos accounted for about half (52%) of all U.S. population growth over this period. They are the country’s second largest racial or ethnic group, behind white non-Hispanics.
Here are some key facts about how the nation’s Latino population has changed over the past decade.
Millions of Americans relocated this year because of the COVID-19 outbreak, moving out of college dorms that abruptly closed, communities they perceive as unsafe or housing they can no longer afford. Overall, around one-in-five U.S. adults (22%) say they either changed their residence due to the pandemic or know someone who did, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
Among those surveyed in early June, 3% say they themselves moved permanently or temporarily due to the coronavirus pandemic, and 6% say someone moved into their household because of it. (Some had more than one of these things happen.) An additional 14% of those who did not personally experience relocation say they know someone else who moved.
Experiences with coronavirus-related relocations vary by demographic characteristics. The age group most likely to have had at least one of these things happen to them are the nation’s young adults: Overall, 37% of those ages 18 to 29 say they moved, someone moved into their home or they know someone who moved because of the outbreak. By race and ethnicity, 28% of Hispanics have had one of these experiences, compared with 20% of white adults, 19% of Black adults and 24% of Asian Americans. Read More →
The COVID-19 outbreak has been a major national news story, dominating news consumption and prompting frequent presidential press conferences. But it is also an important local news story, with many Americans depending on their local media outlets for information about the outbreak.
In an April survey by Pew Research Center, conducted as part of the American News Pathways project, about six-in-ten Americans (61%) said they were following news about the coronavirus outbreak at both the national and local level equally. Around a quarter (23%) said they were paying more attention to news at the local level, while 15% said they were focused more on COVID-19 news at the national level. Read More →
Public opinion pollsters in the United States survey adults of every racial and ethnic group. Historically, though, while the attitudes of white, Hispanic and Black adults are readily reported, those of Asian Americans are not. That raises a question: If Asian Americans are part of the survey sample, why don’t analysts report their views in the same way?
The answer, at least partly, comes down to math.
Asian Americans make up 5.9% percent of the U.S. adult population. That means that a perfectly representative national survey of 1,000 adults would include 59 Asian Americans – far too few to support reliable estimates. Pew Research Center is committed to surveying people of all demographic backgrounds, but we only feel comfortable reporting the views of Asian Americans and other smaller groups when we are confident that the data paints an accurate picture. Read More →
Amid rising coronavirus cases and widespread protests over racial injustice, President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped among a wide range of religious groups, including white evangelical Protestants – though they remain strongly supportive.
Roughly seven-in-ten white evangelical Protestants (72%) say they approve of the way Trump is handling his job, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted June 16 to 22. That is a 6 percentage point drop from 78% recorded in April, in line with the 5-point drop during that period among U.S. adults overall. The share of white evangelicals who say they “very strongly” approve of Trump’s performance is now at 59%, down 8 points from 67% in April. (Pew Research Center also asked the presidential approval question in March of this year, at which time Trump’s rating was similar to results obtained in April.) Read More →
The COVID-19 outbreak has presented a unique set of measurement challenges for statistical agencies. Most recently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the U.S. unemployment rate stood at 13% in May 2020, nonseasonally adjusted. At the same time, the bureau noted that the rate may have been as high as 16% if not for an error in the classification of the employment status of certain workers. Many workers not at work due to COVID-19-related business closures were classified as “employed but absent from work” instead of “unemployed on temporary layoff.”
The extent to which the official rate may understate the actual state of unemployment is greater for women, Asian Americans, immigrants and workers without a bachelor’s degree, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of government data. For several groups of workers, the unemployment rate likely was 20% or higher in May, up to 5 percentage points greater than reported. Read More →
More than six-in-ten Americans (63%) say climate change is currently affecting their local community either a great deal or some, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted April 29-May 5, 2020 – similar to the share who said this in surveys from 2019 and 2018.
As is the case on many climate-related issues, perceptions of whether and how much climate change is affecting local communities are closely tied with political party affiliation. More than eight-in-ten Democrats and independents who lean to the Democratic Party (83%) say climate change is affecting their local community at least some, compared with 37% of Republicans and Republican leaners.
But politics is not the only factor related to these perceptions. Americans who live close to a coastline are more likely than those who live farther away to say climate change is affecting their local community. Seven-in-ten Americans who live within 25 miles of a coastline say climate change is affecting their local community at least some, versus 57% of those who live 300 miles or more from a coast. Read More →
New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides more evidence that Black Americans have been hospitalized with COVID-19 at higher rates than other racial or ethnic groups. But while the CDC has pointed to some possible factors that may be contributing to this pattern – such as work and residential circumstances – the public is divided in its perceptions, particularly along party lines, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted June 4-10.
Most U.S. adults (63%) say a major reason for higher COVID-19 hospitalization rates among Black people is that they are more likely to live in densely populated areas. Smaller but still substantial shares point to Black people being more likely to have other health conditions that put them at risk (52%), that they are less likely to have access to adequate health care (49%) and that they are more likely to work in industries that require contact with the public (45%). Read More →
In recent years, a host of new ways have emerged for people with little or no formal science training to take part in scientific research projects. Such citizen science often entails crowdsourcing data collection related to natural phenomena such as birds and astronomical objects – and, lately, the COVID-19 pandemic – but it can encompass a wide range of other activities.
One-in-ten U.S. adults say they have taken part in an activity classified as citizen science in the past year, and 26% say they have ever done so, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted April 29-May 5.
The Center survey combined responses to three questions to better capture the range of citizen science activities. The survey asked respondents if they had made observations or collected data samples as part of a science research project, contributed to a science-related online crowdsourcing activity, or participated in “a maker movement or hack-a-thon,” in which citizens seek to adapt and invent through hands-on use of science, technology and engineering tools. Read More →
1615 L St. NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
USA
(+1) 202-419-4300 | Main
(+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax
(+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries
About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.