Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Why Do Some Americans Leave Their Religion While Others Stay?
Most Americans who were raised in a religion but no longer identify with one left by early adulthood
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- Why Do Some Americans Leave Their Religion While Others Stay?
- 56% of U.S. adults identify with their childhood religion
- Top reasons Jews identify with their religion include liking traditions, sense of community
- 46% of people who left their childhood religion say they did so because they stopped believing in the religion’s teachings
- About half of adults who left their childhood religion for a different one say they felt ‘called’ to their new faith
- About half of adults who left their childhood religion for no religion say they left because they stopped believing
- Reasons ‘nones’ say they don’t identify with a religion
- Americans who were raised in a religion and had a positive experience are more likely to have stayed
- Americans who were raised in a religion and are currently Republican more likely to still identify with their childhood religion
- Compared with Democrats, Republicans who were not raised in a religion are more likely to identify with one as adults
- Most U.S. adults who switch religions do so before they are 30
- Most Americans who were raised in a religion but no longer identify with one left by early adulthood