8 facts about atheists
Around six-in-ten U.S. atheists are men (64%). And seven-in-ten are ages 49 or younger, compared with about half of U.S. adults overall (52%).
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Around six-in-ten U.S. atheists are men (64%). And seven-in-ten are ages 49 or younger, compared with about half of U.S. adults overall (52%).
A declining share of Canadians identify as Christians. Most Canadians say religion’s influence in public life is waning in their country.
About a quarter of U.S. adults now say they think of themselves as spiritual but not religious, up 8 percentage points in five years.
Though the percentage of religiously “nones” in America has risen, the global share of religiously unaffiliated people is expected to fall in coming decades.
As the percentage of U.S. adults who do not identify with a religious group grows, we asked these people to explain, in their own words, why they left.
The phrase “spiritual but not religious” has become widely used in recent years by some Americans who are trying to describe their religious identity.
Religious “nones” make up 23% of U.S. adults, up from 16% in 2007. And only 27% of those “nones” are absolutely certain about God’s existence, down from 36% in 2007.
The religious face of America is largely a Christian one, with roughly seven-in-ten Americans belonging to that faith. But some of the nation’s biggest metropolitan areas have a very different look.
The growth of the religiously unaffiliated in the U.S. is occurring across genders, generations and racial and ethnic groups.
The 35% of Millennials who do not identify with a religion is double the share of unaffiliated Baby Boomers (17%) and more than three times the share of members of the Silent generation (11%).
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