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.
Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump leave the stage at NRG Stadium after a rally in September 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Sergio Flores/Getty Images)
As U.S. President Donald Trump prepares for a state visit to India, the two nations’ economic relationship will take center stage after several months of back-and-forth about escalating tariffs. And while Trump himself receives positive marks from the Indian populace, some of his specific policies and trade attitudes in general do not garner the same warm reception.
A majority of Indians have confidence in Donald Trump to do the right thing when it comes to world affairs. Trump’s image in India has gained favor since his candidacy in 2016, jumping from 14% confidence to 56% over three years. Much of this movement is accompanied by more people now offering an opinion about the U.S. president. The share volunteering a response of “don’t know” or declining to answer has fallen precipitously over the same period, from 67% in 2016 to just 30% in 2019. Meanwhile, the small share of those saying they lack confidence in Trump when it comes to foreign policy has remained stable. These latest numbers resemble those of Trump’s predecessor: Before Barack Obama left office, 58% of Indians had confidence in him in world affairs, while 9% had no confidence and 33% did not offer an opinion.
With an estimated population of 1.8 billion, Muslims are the world’s second-largest religious group, after Christians. But our surveys have found that about half of Americans – as well as most Western Europeans – say they know little or nothing about Islam.
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Pew Research Center has conducted more than a decade’s worth of global research on religion, including surveys of Muslims in 39 countries, three comprehensive surveys of Muslim Americans, several demographic studies of the world’s major religions (including population growth projections), and a series of surveys that measure how people living in the U.S. and Europe view Muslims and Islam. Read More →
Republicans and Democrats express sharply different preferences about their ideal communities and house sizes. And while large numbers of people in both parties say it is important to live in a community that is a good place to raise children, partisans diverge on whether it is important that a community is racially and ethnically diverse.
Nearly two-thirds of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (65%) say they would prefer to live in a community where houses are larger and farther apart, but schools, stores and restaurants are several miles away.
By contrast, a majority of Democrats and Democratic leaners (58%) would rather live in a community in which houses are smaller and closer to each other, but schools, stores and restaurants are in walking distance. Read More →
Newspaper chain McClatchy filed for bankruptcy Thursday, the latest bad headline for the struggling U.S. newspaper industry. McClatchy owns media companies in 14 states, including the Kansas City Star, Miami Herald, Charlotte Observer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Sacramento Bee. Amid the company’s bankruptcy filing, here are some fast facts about the newspaper industry’s recent financial struggles, based on previously published Pew Research Center surveys and analyses of data from Editor and Publisher, the Alliance for Audited Media, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read More →
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.
Nearly two-thirds of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (65%) say they would prefer to live in a community where houses are larger and farther apart, but schools, stores and restaurants are several miles away.
