Posted on 07/01/2009 11:14:33 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
WASHINGTON – There is a growing “religion gap” between older Americans and those under 30, according to a new Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends survey.
The study released June 29 found that one-fourth of Americans ages 18-29 said they were atheists, agnostics or had no religion, while only 7 percent of those 65 and over described themselves that way. Eighteen percent of those ages 30-49 and 13 percent of those 50-64 fell into the no religion/atheist/agnostic category.
At 7 percent, the under-30s also were more than twice as likely as those 65 and over (3 percent) to say they belonged to a religion other than Protestant, Catholic or Jewish.
Catholics made up 24 percent of the 65 and over group and the 30-49 group, 23 percent of those aged 50-64 and 20 percent of those between 18 and 29.
The 152-page study, called “Growing Old in America: Expectations vs. Reality,” addressed a variety of issues related to aging. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.6 percentage points for the survey, which involved telephone interviews with 2,969 adult Americans between Feb. 23 and March 23 this year.
Because an estimated 5 percent of Americans older than 65 are in nursing homes and would not be reachable through normal telephone interviewing, Pew also interviewed more than 800 adults with parents 65 or older and included their responses in a separate section of the study.
The older the respondent, the more likely he or she was to say that religion was very important. Seventy percent of those 75 and older said religion was very important in their lives, while only 44 percent of the youngest group of adults said so.
Sixty-two percent of those between 65 and 74, 61 percent of Americans ages 50-64 and 54 percent of those 30-49 said religion was very important to them.
Pew also found differences in the importance of religion based on gender and race, especially for older Americans. Seventy-six percent of women 65 and over but only 53 percent of men in that age group said religion was very important to them.
Eighty-seven percent of black Americans older than 64 said religion was very important in their lives, compared to 63 percent of older white Americans.
The survey found similar differences by race and gender across all age groups. By 63 percent to 48 percent, women were more likely to say religion was very important to them. Blacks of all ages (80 percent) also were more likely than whites (50 percent) to say religion was very important in their lives.
Pew Research Center found widespread agreement when it asked participants in its survey whether they saw “a major difference in the point of view of younger people and older people today.” About four-fifths of respondents – 79 percent across all age groups – said yes, with little difference among young, middle-age or older Americans.
In response to an open-ended question about the differences between generations, nearly half of those polled gave an answer that fell into the broad category of “values,” while about a quarter said the generations differed in their general outlook on life.
“Within the broad category of values, the top volunteered responses are morality, ethics and beliefs (12 percent) and a sense of entitlement (12 percent),” the survey report said. “Young, middle-aged and older respondents cite morality and ethics in roughly equal proportions,” it added.
The study released June 29 found that one-fourth of Americans ages 18-29 said they were atheists, agnostics or had no religion, while only 7 percent of those 65 and over described themselves that way. Eighteen percent of those ages 30-49 and 13 percent of those 50-64 fell into the no religion/atheist/agnostic category.
At 7 percent, the under-30s also were more than twice as likely as those 65 and over (3 percent) to say they belonged to a religion other than Protestant, Catholic or Jewish.
Catholics made up 24 percent of the 65 and over group and the 30-49 group, 23 percent of those aged 50-64 and 20 percent of those between 18 and 29.
Remember, as we get older and have children our “views” and “priorities” change. I considered myself “Agnostic” until I was 25 or so....but I had kids early. I know MANY people who were atheists until they had “real” responsibilities in life.
There are probably a lot of people like myself, that identify as Catholic but are not regular church goers, more culturally Catholic, but for the most part live a fairly agnostic lifestyle.
These stats appear to me to be merely a description of “season of life” states, nothing more.
Actually, it looks as if we are in pretty good shape.
What would be more telling is to consider what these statistics were over time. Is the percentage of atheist/agnostic people in the 18-39 bracket significantly higher than it was 5-10-20 years ago.
Even if it is, I’m wondering if it’s only that people are more likely to state they are in that category than they were 5-10-20 years ago.
If you believe in predestination, these stats don’t reflect the number of “saved” people and never could.
Even if this data proves that young Americans are trending away from church, it should not be discouraging.
When Jesus looked over the unsaved multitudes, he saw opportunity, not doom and gloom.
His message was for us to get to work.
(just my thoughts)
The Bus Ministry of the State Church of Secular Humanism, euphemistically called, “Public Schools”, is doing its job very well.
Each successive generation of those that call themselves “religious” has a weaker faith, and more and more of their children have no faith in God at all.
This is exactly what the communists running the tax-funded government indoctrination centers want.
“Even if this data proves that young Americans are trending away from church, it should not be discouraging.”
It’s a pretty grim portrayal over where our nation is headed. In the 1980s, the absurdity of something like “gay marriage” wouldn’t even be a conceivable reality. Nor would the fact that American families are rapidly shrinking to the point where we won’t even be producing the next generation in a few short years.
There are massively important roles religion plays in our society. As socieities abandon and de-emphasize these roles, they inevitably fall apart.
I see where you’re coming. The need for optimism and faith are always there. But this is bad news.
I read the graph and come away with this. The closer you get to God, the closer you get to God. Young kids think they will live forever. When we start to bury our parents and some friends, we figure it out. Sounds normal to me.
I don’t think it’s that simple, I bet if there were a poll done 30 years ago, the numbers would look like this at all.
I think what this really reflects is that pop culture, and primary and secondary, and even university education, is biased decidedly in favor of secular humanism.
The real unknown in this poll is known how that subgroup divides itself among the atheists, agnostics, and simply non religious. I’d like to see those numbers.
I worry that religious freedom won't be respected by the non-religious, especially if they've bought into the new American histories rewritten to support irreligious whiners and dubious SCOTUS rulings.
Sometimes agnostics, atheists and non religious types, when staring into the face of death will see the light. Also when they are engaging in male/female encounters.....
As long as your church maintains a vigorous program for worship and teaching it shouldn’t become complacent.
I think it may swing back to greater religious observance simply because church-goers will have more children than non-church-goers, and those children will be more likely to raise a family. IMHO, agnostics and atheists are a bit more likely than religious people to believe that there are too many people already, or that they can handle one child, but not more.
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