Non-religious 'nones' are on the rise, study shows
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The U.S. has become much less Christian, driven in large part by Gen Z and younger Millennials, according to a new Pew study.
Why it matters: "This is a broad-based social change," says Alan Cooperman, the director of religion research at the Pew Research Center.
- "We've had rising shares of people who don't identify with any religion — so-called 'nones' — and declining shares who identify as Christian, in all parts of the country, in all parts of the population, by ethnicity and race, among both men and women, and among people at all levels of the educational spectrum," he says about the survey findings.
By the numbers: Fewer than half of 18- to 29-year olds identify as Christian (45%), and nearly the same portion have no religious affiliation (44%), according to Pew's Religious Landscape Study, which surveyed more than 35,000 Americans.
- Meanwhile, 78% of those 65 and older identify as Christian.
Religiously unaffiliated adults came in at 29%, up from 16% in 2007, according to the study.
- And 7% of U.S. adults identify with other religions, up from 5% in 2007.
- Caveat: What researchers call a "secular surge" has plateaued in the last four years.
Between the lines: A significant portion of U.S. adults (35%) have switched from the religion of their childhood.
What we're hearing: "It's not surprising," Penny Edgell, professor in the sociology department at the University of Minnesota, tells Axios.
- "If you're more progressive, you might look at religion and say that the mainstream religious institutions don't reflect my values," particularly when it comes to topics like LGBTQ+ inclusion, she says.
Case in point: Fewer self-described liberals say they're Christian (37%, down from 62% in 2007) than are religiously unaffiliated, according to the Pew data.
- The decline among self-described conservatives is smaller, from 89% to 82%.
