Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Religiously unaffiliated Americans tend to be, almost by definition, less religious than Americans who belong to a religious tradition. In Pew Research Center surveys, the unaffiliated are less likely than the general public as a whole to say that religion is very important in their lives, to attend worship services regularly and to pray on […]
The religiously unaffiliated population is younger, more heavily male and more likely to be single than the general public as a whole. About a third of unaffiliated adults (35%) are under age 30, compared with about one-in-five adults in the general population (22%). A higher percentage of the unaffiliated population is made up of men […]
Roughly eight-in-ten U.S. Catholics say they are satisfied with the leadership provided by Catholic nuns and sisters.
A new survey report finds that Catholics who are aware of U.S. bishops’ concerns about restrictions on religious liberty generally agree with the bishops’ concerns. Yet there are no significant differences in the presidential vote preferences between Catholic voters who have heard about the bishops’ protests and those who have not.
But Catholic Voters Back Obama on Social Issues Washington, D.C. – Today, the provision of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act that offers free contraception to women on employer health care plans goes into effect, though many religious institutions have a one-year reprieve. Catholics who are aware of U.S. bishops’ concerns about restrictions on religious […]
The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion continues to grow at a rapid pace. One-fifth of the U.S. public – and a third of adults under 30 – are religiously unaffiliated today, the highest percentages ever in Pew Research Center polling.
Roughly a third of Asian Americans (32%) now belong to a religious tradition different from the one in which they were raised. By comparison, the Pew Forum’s 2007 “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey” found that 28% of all U.S. adults belong to a religion that is different from their childhood faith.30 Japanese, Chinese and Korean Americans […]
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 […]