Majorities of adults see decline of union membership as bad for the U.S. and working people
The share of U.S. workers who belonged to a union in 2023 stood at 10%, down from 1983 when 20.1% of American workers were union members.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The share of U.S. workers who belonged to a union in 2023 stood at 10%, down from 1983 when 20.1% of American workers were union members.
The share of adults who say their side is losing more often than winning is up 15 percentage points since early 2020.
Americans’ ratings of the Supreme Court are now as negative as – and more politically polarized than – at any point in more than three decades of polling. And nearly two-thirds of Democrats (64%) now say the Supreme Court has too much power, almost three times the share who said this in August 2020 (23%).
With more states authorizing the use of marijuana, the public continues to favor legalizing it for medical and recreational purposes.
In states where abortion is prohibited, the share of people who say access to abortion should be easier has increased since August 2019. A majority of residents in those states say it would be difficult to get an abortion in the area where they live today, up 21 points from four years ago.
Today, 54% of U.S. adults say they have a favorable opinion of the Supreme Court, while 44% have an unfavorable view. And 84% say justices should not bring their political views into decisions.
Pew Research Center’s political typology provides a roadmap to today’s fractured political landscape. It organizes the public into nine distinct groups, based on an analysis of their attitudes and values. Even in a polarized era, the 2021 survey reveals deep divisions in both partisan coalitions.
68% of U.S. adults who voted in the 2020 presidential election turned out to vote in the 2022 midterms. Former President Donald Trump’s voters turned out at a higher rate in 2022 (71%) than did President Joe Biden’s voters (67%).
Nearly eight-in-ten U.S. adults (78%) say there is some risk an innocent person will be put to death, and 63% say the death penalty does not deter people from committing serious crimes.
U.S. gun owners have long favored more permissive gun policies while adults who do not own guns have tended to favor more restrictive ones.
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