Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Even as party divisions over values have expanded over the last quarter century, gaps between other groups have remained relatively unchanged. Across the 48 values items tracked regularly since 1987, average gender, age, race, education, income and religiosity differences have remained remarkably stable. Several of these demographic characteristics are associated with significant differences in values, […]
Three years ago the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life launched an effort to generate up-to-date and fully sourced estimates of the current size and projected growth of the world’s major religious groups. As part of this multi-phase project, the Pew Forum has assembled data on the size and geographic distribution of […]
Community Profiles Before examining in depth the local news consumption patterns in different types of communities, it is critical to describe the key demographic differences across their populations. Analysis shows that residents of different size communities differ on a variety of demographic, attitudinal, and behavioral measures included in the survey, many of which may be […]
The proportion of Americans who favor gay marriage has increased by 21 points since 1996, from 27% to 48%. Over this period, opposition has fallen from 65% to 44%. Strong support for gay marriage now equals strong opposition (22% strongly favor, 23% strongly oppose). As recently as four years ago, twice as many strongly opposed […]
A country-by-country analysis of data from more than 2,500 censuses, surveys and population registers finds that 84% of adults and children around the globe are religiously affiliated. The study also finds that the median age of two major groups – Muslims (23 years) and Hindus (26) – is younger than the world’s overall population (28), while Jews have the highest median age (36).
The number of political independents has continued to grow, as both parties have lost ground among the public. Based on surveys conducted this year, 38% describe themselves as independents, up from 32% in 2008 and 30% in 2004. The proportion of independents is now higher than at any point in more than two decades. Looking […]
A Third of Adults Under 30 Are Unaffiliated; U.S. Protestant Population Dips Below 50% Washington, D.C. — A new, comprehensive demographic study of more than 230 countries and territories conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life finds that more than eight-in-ten people worldwide identify with a religious group. The report […]