Publications

Since the 1990s, large numbers of Americans have left Christianity to join the growing ranks of U.S. adults who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” If recent trends in religious switching continue, Christians could make up less than half of the U.S. population within a few decades.

India’s artificially wide ratio of baby boys to baby girls – which arose in the 1970s from the use of prenatal diagnostic technology to facilitate sex-selective abortions – now appears to be narrowing. Son bias has declined sharply among Sikhs, while Christians continue to have a natural balance of sons and daughters.

While the largest Christian traditions and religious “nones” can be consistently analyzed, smaller groups produce a large margin of error.

China has the world’s largest population (1.426 billion), but India (1.417 billion) is expected to claim this title next year.

As of August 2022, the College of Cardinals will have 132 voting members, 40% of whom are European, down from 52% in 2013. 

As the nation’s post-Roe chapter begins and the legal battle shifts to the states, here are key facts about Americans’ views on abortion.

Americans increasingly say gender is determined by one’s sex assigned at birth, but they differ by religion on this and other transgender issues.

Here are key findings from our research on the relationship between religion and government in the U.S. and Americans' views on the issue.

Here is a look at the most recent available data about abortion from sources other than public opinion surveys.

U.S. adults disagree over whether legal restrictions on abortion are an effective way to reduce the number of abortions in the U.S.