Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Only a few decades ago, a Christian identity was so common among Americans that it could almost be taken for granted. As recently as the early 1990s, about 90% of U.S. adults identified as Christians. But today, about two-thirds of adults are Christians.[6. numoffset=”6″ This chapter focuses on results of public opinion surveys of U.S. […]
The first half of this chapter provides details on the assumptions and results of each of the four main scenarios. These are not predictions for the future. Rather, projections show what would happen under a number of hypothetical scenarios. Some scenarios are intentionally implausible and meant only to illustrate the impact of different demographic forces. […]
Since the 1990s, large numbers of Americans have left Christianity to join the growing ranks of U.S. adults who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” If recent trends in religious switching continue, Christians could make up less than half of the U.S. population within a few decades.
Pew Research Center conducted analyses not detailed elsewhere in this report to make decisions that shaped projections. This appendix contains an overview of some of these analyses. Trends in other sources of religious composition data This report considers how the rapid and continuous rise of religious “nones” in the United States might continue or change […]