But Pew Forum Finds Young Adults To BeFairly Traditional in Some Other Ways

Washington, D.C.—By some key measures, Americansages 18 to 29 are considerably less religious than older Americans,according to a new report released by the Pew Research Center’s Forum onReligion & Public Life. Fully one-in-four are unaffiliated with anyparticular faith.The report is part of a Pew Research Center seriesexploring the behaviors, values and opinions of the teens and20-somethings that make up the Millennial Generation.

“Religion Among the Millennials,” based on data from a variety ofsources including Pew Research Center surveys, explores the degree towhich the religious characteristics and social views of young adultsdiffer from those of older people today, as well as how Millennialscompare with previous generations when they were about the same age.According to survey findings, Millennials are significantly moreunaffiliated than members of Generation X were at a comparable point intheir life cycle and twice as unaffiliated as Baby Boomers were as youngadults. Young adults today also attend religious services less oftenthan older Americans. And compared with their elders today, fewer youngpeople say that religion is very important in their lives.

However, on some other measures of religious belief and practice,members of the Millennial Generation are not so clearly different fromprevious generations. For example, young adults’ beliefs about lifeafter death and the existence of heaven, hell and miracles closelyresemble the beliefs of older people today. The percentage of youngadults who say they pray every day rivals the portion of young peoplewho said the same in prior decades. Millennials also say they believe inGod with absolute certainty at rates similar to those seen among GenXers a decade ago.

Key findings include:

• Compared with their elders today, young people are much less likelyto affiliate with any religious tradition or to identify themselves aspart of a Christian denomination. Fully one-in-four adults under age 30are unaffiliated.
• One-third of those under age 30 say they attend worship servicesevery week, compared with 41% of adults 30 and older.
• Fewer than half of adults under age 30 say that religion is veryimportant in their lives (45%), compared with almost six-in-ten adults30 and older (59%).
• Sixty-four percent of young adults say they are absolutely certainof God’s existence, compared with 73% of those 30 and older.
• Adults under age 30 are just as likely as older adults to believe inlife after death (75% vs. 74%), heaven (74% each), hell (62% vs. 59%)and miracles (78% vs. 79%).
• Nearly three-quarters of affiliated young adults (74%) say there ismore than one true way to interpret the teachings of their faith,compared with 67% of affiliated adults 30 and older.

The report, including a summary of findings, is available online.

The Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Lifeconducts surveys, demographic analyses and other social science researchon important aspects of religion and public life in the U.S. and aroundthe world.As part of the Washington-based Pew Research Center, anonpartisan, nonadvocacy organization, the Pew Forum does not takepositions on any of the issues it covers or on policy debates.Fundingfor the Pew Forum is provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.