Religion Holds Steady in America; Pew Research Center, December 8, 2025

 GREGORY A. SMITH, Pew Research Center; Religion Holds Steady in America

"Pew Research Center polling finds that key measures of religiousness are holding steady in the United States, continuing a period of relative stability that began about five years ago.  

The shares of U.S. adults who identify with Christianity, with another religion, or with no religion have all remained fairly stable in the Center’s latest polling.

The percentages of Americans who say they pray every day, that religion is very important in their lives, and that they regularly attend religious services also have held fairly steady since 2020...

So, what is happening with religion among young adults today? Some media reports have suggested there may be a religious revival taking place among young adults, especially young men, in the U.S. But our recent polls, along with other high-quality surveys we have analyzed, show no clear evidence that this kind of nationwide religious resurgence is underway.

On average, young adults remain much less religious than older Americans. Today’s young adults also are less religious than young people were a decade ago. And there is no indication that young men are converting to Christianity in large numbers."

Letter to the Editor: "Get the Facts on Readers", Emailed to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Kip Currier, September 1, 2018

[Kip Currier: I'm copying below a Letter to the Editor--titled "Get the Facts on Readers"--that I emailed today (September 1, 2018) to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. For additional background, see this story.]

Get the Facts on Readers

Dear Editor,

The Post-Gazette is running a multi-platform ad campaign that weaponizes variations of the line “I will never go digital” to make fun of older readers, depicted as fuddy-duddy Luddites. In one particularly offensive TV spot, a digitally-savvy granddaughter openly mocks her grandmother who prefers print.

Research refutes the ageist “messages” in the P-G’s divisive marketing campaign. Many adult U.S. readers—of all ages—are hybrid readers who want the choice of information in both print and digital formats.

As evidence, take a look at some of the key findings from a Jan. 3-10, 2018 national survey of 2,002 U.S. adults, reported by the well-respected, non-partisan Pew Research Center:

Despite some growth in certain digital formats, it remains the case that relatively few Americans consume digital books (which include audiobooks and e-books) to the exclusion of print. Some 39% of Americans say they read only print books, while 29% read in these digital formats and also read print books.

And the coup de grace to the P-G’s graceless stereotyping:

Some demographic groups are more likely than others to be digital-only book readers, but in general this behavior is relatively rare across a wide range of demographics. For example, 10% of 18- to 29-year-olds only read books in digital formats, compared with 5% of those ages 50-64 and 4% of those 65 and older.

The P-G’s preening effort to digitally divide users borders on farce, given that P-G writers and staff repeatedly concede the deplorable state of the newspaper’s digital search and archival features. 

The P-G’s tagline is “One of America’s Great Newspapers”. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, that tagline is not supported by facts. So, here’s a “message” for P-G ownership:

Hire some of the Pittsburgh region’s highly educated information professionals to help the P-G become a bona fide leader in print and digital content, search, and delivery. Give the Pittsburgh region a truly great newspaper that inclusively serves and respects all of its readers and residents.

James “Kip” Currier

Mt. Lebanon

Libraries and Learning; Pew Research Center, 4/7/16

Lee Rainie, Pew Research Center; Libraries and Learning:

"Most Americans believe libraries do a decent job of serving the education and learning needs of their communities and their own families. A new survey by Pew Research Center shows that 76% of adults say libraries serve the learning and educational needs of their communities either “very well” (37%) or “pretty well” (39%). Further, 71% say libraries serve their own personal needs and the needs of their families “very well” or “pretty well.”

As a rule, libraries’ performance in learning arenas gets better marks from women, blacks, Hispanics, those in lower-income households, and those ages 30 and older."

Public Libraries and Hispanics Pew Report Shows Library Gap Between U.S.-Born and Immigrants; Library Journal, 3/30/15

Lisa Peet, Library Journal; Public Libraries and Hispanics Pew Report Shows Library Gap Between U.S.-Born and Immigrants:

"The Pew Research Center’s latest report taken from its 2013 Library Services Survey focuses on Public Libraries and Hispanics, examining usage patterns and attitudes among the United States Hispanic population age 16 and older. While the findings identify some differences between Latinos and their White [non-Hispanic] and African American counterparts, the greatest discrepancies lie between native-born Hispanics—those born within the 50 states or Puerto Rico—and immigrants.

Perhaps most notably, non-native Hispanics were far less likely to have ever visited a U.S. public library or bookmobile in person than Latinos born in this country. However, those immigrants who have used the library identified as the most appreciative segment of the surveyed population, consistently rating library services highest of any other group. The report introduces as many questions as it answers. But it could serve as an opportunity for discussion in libraries across the country about how to better serve a rapidly growing Hispanic population—more than 54 million living in the United States today, making up 17 percent of the population.

The data used was taken from research conducted in 2013 as part of the Pew Internet public library research initiative, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."

Young People Frequent Libraries, Study Finds; New York Times, 10/22/12

Christine Haughney, New York Times; Young People Frequent Libraries, Study Finds: "But in troubling news for tablet makers, the study also found that the subjects under 30 who read electronically were more likely to read books on a cellphone or a computer. In fact, the study found that 41 percent of readers under 30 view books using a cellphone and 55 percent read from a computer. Only 23 percent of Americans under 30 used an e-reader and 16 percent used a tablet."