Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

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Short Reads

Short-form data and analysis from Pew Research Center writers and social scientists. To view all our reports and publications, visit our main Publications page.

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    Say Military Strength Ensures Peace

    That’s the percentage of Americans who say they think that maintaining military strength is the best way to ensure peace – the lowest percentage in the 20-year history of Pew values surveys.

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    Feel an Obligation to Vote

    That’s the percentage of Americans who see voting as their duty as a citizen.

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    Full-Time Work Not Attractive to At-Home Moms

    That’s the percentage of at-home moms who say full-time work would be their ideal situation; by contrast, nearly half (48%) say not working at all outside the home is ideal situation for them.

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    Clicking the News

    That’s the number of Americans who now seek out news on the internet on a typical day. The daily audience online for news has grown dramatically since 2002 — a surge fueled by the rise in home broadband connections.

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    The Web in Daily Life

    That’s the percentage of online Americans who say the internet has greatly improved the way they pursue their hobbies and interests.

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    U.S. as a Christian Nation

    That’s the percentage of Americans who now consider the U.S. as a Christian nation, down slightly from a year earlier but significantly more than the 60% who characterized the country this way a decade ago.

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    Career Switching

    That’s the proportion of U.S. adults who report that they have switched careers — from one type of work to another — and more than half of this group say they have made a switch more than once.

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    Younger Voters Return to the Voting Booth

    That’s the percentage by which turnout among young voters (ages 18-25) increased in 2004 over the previous presidential election in 2000 — the largest increase in any single age group. But young people still lag on basic measures of political engagement.

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    Support Gay Marriage

    That’s the number of U.S. adults who support allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally; a majority, 55%, are opposed.

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    Say Internet Pornography Is Harmful

    That’s the portion of the American adults who disagree with the statement “nude pictures and X-rated videos on the internet provide harmless entertainment for those who enjoy it.”