Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

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Religion

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    The art and science of the scatterplot

    This type of chart is growing more popular, but just half of those with a high school education or less correctly interpreted one in our science quiz.

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    About Half of Those Raised Catholic Leave the Church

    Half of U.S. adults raised Catholic have left the church at some point

    Some older American Catholics might remember a time when people thought of the Catholic Church like a family: hard to ignore and even harder to leave. But a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. Catholics shows that at least some of these perceptions may no longer be entirely true.

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    Catholics More Likely Than Other Americans to Be Hispanic, Immigrants

    A closer look at Catholic America

    The face of Catholic America is changing. Today, immigrants make up a considerable share of Catholics, and many are Hispanic. At the same time, there has been a regional shift, from the Northeast (long home to a large percentage of the Catholic faithful) and Midwest to the Western and Southern parts of the U.S.

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    Catholics Seeking Annulment

    Relatively few U.S. Catholics skipped annulment because of cost or complications

    Pope Francis has announced major changes to the Roman Catholic Church’s procedures for marriage annulments. While the new changes are aimed at making annulments faster and less expensive, a recent Pew Research survey found that most divorced U.S. Catholics who did not seek annulments did not cite the complicated nature of the process as a reason.

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    Who Are Cultural Catholics?

    Who are ‘cultural Catholics’?

    The share of Americans whose primary religious affiliation is Catholic has fallen somewhat in recent years, and now stands at about one-in-five. But an additional one-in-ten American adults (9%) consider themselves Catholic or partially Catholic in other ways, even though they do not self-identify as Catholic on the basis of religion.

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    45% of Americans have a strong connection to Catholicism

    45% of Americans have a connection to Catholicism

    The new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. Catholics provides an opportunity to take stock of Americans’ Catholic identity – not just people who identify primarily as Catholics, but the entire spectrum of those whose lives have crossed paths with the Catholic Church in a meaningful way.

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    Catholics Say Traditional Families Are Ideal

    Key findings about American Catholics

    Pew Research Center asked American Catholics for their views about family structures, religious beliefs and practices and other topics. Here are 6 facts from the new survey.

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    U.S. Catholics Open to Non-Traditional Families

    When Pope Francis arrives in the U.S., he will find a Catholic public that is remarkably accepting of a variety of non-traditional families, according to a new survey on family life, sexuality and Catholic identity.

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    Businesses owned by women, minorities lag in revenue share

    The number of businesses owned by women and minorities has grown considerably in recent years, particularly in certain industries, but based on revenue they remain on average considerably smaller than white- or male-owned firms.