Summary Religious Switching: Change in America's Religion Landscape | Pew Research Center www.pewresearch.org
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Religious affiliation in America is dynamic, with the unaffiliated gaining the most and Catholicism experiencing the greatest losses, while interfaith marriages are prevalent.
Slides
Slide Presentation (10 slides)
Key Points
- 34% of American adults currently have a religious identity different from the one in which they were raised, rising to 42% when the three major Protestant traditions are analyzed separately
- The religiously unaffiliated have experienced the greatest net gains from religious switching, increasing from 9.2% to 18% of adults
- Catholicism has suffered the greatest net losses, with 13% of Americans being former Catholics compared to only 2% who have converted to the faith
- Evangelical denominations and nondenominational Protestants are the exception within Protestantism, gaining more adherents through switching than they lose
- Nearly one-third of married adults have a spouse with a different religious affiliation, and this rate is even higher among those who have married since 2000
- Hindus, Mormons, and Muslims are the most likely to have a spouse who shares their religion, while Buddhists have the highest rate of interfaith relationships
Summaries
22 word summary
Religious affiliation in America is fluid, with many switching faiths. The unaffiliated gain most, while Catholicism loses most. Interfaith marriage is common.
49 word summary
America's religious landscape is highly fluid, with 34% switching affiliations. The unaffiliated gain the most, while Catholicism loses the most. Evangelical and nondenominational Protestantism gain members. Hindus, Muslims, and Jews retain adherents best. Nearly one-third of married adults have a spouse of different faith, especially common among the unaffiliated.
116 word summary
America's religious landscape is highly fluid, with 34% of adults having a different affiliation than their upbringing. The religiously unaffiliated have seen the greatest net gains, while Catholicism has suffered the most losses. Within Protestantism, evangelical and nondenominational groups gain more members than they lose. Retention rates vary, with Hindus, Muslims, and Jews most successful at retaining adherents. Nearly one-third of married adults have a spouse of a different faith, especially common among the unaffiliated. Hindus, Mormons, and Muslims are most likely to have a religiously homogenous marriage, while Buddhists have the highest interfaith marriage rate. These trends highlight the dynamic nature of America's religious landscape and have implications for the future composition of religious groups.
417 word summary
Religious Switching and Intermarriage in America's Changing Religious Landscape
The Pew Research Center's 2015 study on America's changing religious landscape reveals a remarkable degree of fluidity in religious affiliation. If Protestantism is treated as a single group, 34% of American adults currently have a religious identity different from the one in which they were raised. This figure rises to 42% when the three major Protestant traditions (evangelical, mainline, and historically black) are analyzed separately.
The group that has experienced the greatest net gains from religious switching is the religiously unaffiliated. While only 9.2% of adults were raised as religious "nones," 18% now identify as unaffiliated, resulting in a nearly 14 percentage point increase. In contrast, Catholicism has suffered the greatest net losses, with 13% of Americans being former Catholics compared to only 2% who have converted to the faith.
Within Protestantism, evangelical denominations are the exception, gaining more adherents through switching than they lose. Nondenominational Protestants also see significant net gains, attracting about five new members for every one they lose. Other Protestant groups, such as Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, and Presbyterians, lose more members than they gain.
Retention rates vary widely across religious traditions. Hindus, Muslims, and Jews are the most successful at retaining their childhood adherents, with 80%, 77%, and 75% respectively continuing to identify with their childhood faiths. Among Christian groups, historically black Protestants, evangelicals, and Mormons have the highest retention rates, while Catholicism and mainline Protestantism have experienced significant losses.
The rise of religious intermarriage is another notable trend. Nearly one-third of married adults have a spouse with a different religious affiliation, and this rate is even higher among those who have married since 2000. Interfaith relationships are particularly common among the religiously unaffiliated, with 18% of those married since 2010 having a Christian spouse.
Hindus, Mormons, and Muslims are the most likely to have a spouse who shares their religion, with 91%, 82%, and 79% respectively being in religiously homogenous marriages. Buddhists, on the other hand, have the highest rate of interfaith relationships, though this may be skewed by the underrepresentation of Asian-American Buddhists in the study.
In summary, the Pew Research Center's findings highlight the dynamic nature of America's religious landscape, with significant movement between religious affiliations and a growing prevalence of interfaith marriages. The unaffiliated have emerged as the biggest beneficiaries of religious switching, while Catholicism and mainline Protestantism have experienced the most substantial losses. These trends have important implications for the future composition of religious groups in the United States.