Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Chapter 1: Overview National rates of gun homicide and other violent gun crimes are strikingly lower now than during their peak in the mid-1990s, paralleling a general decline in violent crime, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of government data. Beneath the long-term trend, though, are big differences by decade: Violence plunged through the [...]
This posting explores statistics about marriage rates, median age at first marriage and attitudes about marriage. Although the marriage rate is at a record low, most never-married Americans say they would like to marry. “Love” is cited more than other factors as a reason to get married, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
Chapter 1: Overview Second-generation Americans—the 20 million adult U.S.-born children of immigrants—are substantially better off than immigrants themselves on key measures of socioeconomic attainment, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. They have higher incomes; more are college graduates and homeowners; and fewer live in poverty. In all of [...]
A new report from the Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends project analyzes the rising prevalence of racial and ethnic intermarriage, and compares rates among different ethnic and racial groups. The report also uses public opinion data to look at changing attitudes toward intermarriage.
The share of new marriages between spouses of a different race or ethnicity from each other increased to 15.1% in 2010, more than double the share in 1980.
The counts and characteristics of same-sex couples are among the most written-about data from the 2010 Census and American Community Survey. Yet, two decades after the Census Bureau began offering people the option to describe themselves as a same-sex “unmarried partner,” producing accurate numbers remains a challenge.
The American public is sharply divided in its judgments about the sweeping changes in the structure of the American family that have unfolded over the past half century. About a third generally accepts the changes; a third is tolerant but skeptical; and a third considers them bad for society.
The American public is sharply divided in its judgments about the sweeping changes in the structure of the American family that have unfolded over the past half century.
A report from the center’s Social & Demographic Trends project, “The Decline of Marriage and Rise of New Families,” finds that nearly four-in-ten Americans (39%) say that marriage is becoming obsolete.
More than a third (36%) of Americans say the practice of “walking away” from a home mortgage is acceptable, at least under certain circumstances.
As a group, African Americans attracted relatively little attention in the U.S. mainstream news media during the first year of Barack Obama’s presidency — and what coverage there was tended to focus more on specific episodes than on examining how broader issues and trends affected the lives of blacks generally.
Rates of intermarriage have risen in the United States, but trends differ markedly for different race and ethnic groups, according to a new Pew Research Center report that makes extensive use of U.S. Census Bureau data.
In 2008, a record 14.6% of all new marriages in the United States were between spouses of a different race or ethnicity from one another. Rates varied by region, by state and racial group.
This dramatic increase has been driven in part by the weakening of longstanding cultural taboos against intermarriage and in part by a large, multi-decade wave of immigrants from Latin America and Asia.
A new national survey focuses on American teens and twenty-somethings who are making the passage into adulthood at the start of a new millennium. These young people have begun to forge their generational personality: confident, self-expressive, liberal, upbeat and open to change.
The topic of racial identification on census forms has a long, fascinating history, which has generated fresh debate as the 2010 Census begins.
Assessments about the state of black progress in America have improved more dramatically among blacks during the past two years than at any time in the past quarter century.
It may surprise anyone who has been following the charges of racism that have flared up during the debate over President Obama’s health care proposals, but the American public doesn’t see race as the source of the strongest social conflict in the country today.
While most Americans approve of laws that say treatment can be stopped if that’s what a terminally ill patient desires, they are split on what they would do personally in that situation.
They have different values, beliefs and lifestyles, but young and old today are disagreeing without being disagreeable. Both also share a fondness for Woodstock-era rock and roll.
From the kitchen to the laundry room to the home entertainment center, Americans are paring down the list of familiar household appliances they say they can’t live without.
There is a stronger consensus in public opinion about the social cost of out-of-wedlock births than there is about the morality of these births.
Only 13% of adults say it’s “very important” for them to be wealthy, ranking this personal priority far behind six others measured in a new survey .
While blacks and Hispanics hold broadly favorable views of each other, Hispanics are less likely to say the two groups get along well. At the same time, African Americans are far more likely than Latinos to say blacks are frequently the victims of racial discrimination.
Race, ethnicity and politics can sometimes make for a volatile mix, as the presidential field of 2008 has begun to discover. But in the world beyond politics, race relations in this country are on a pretty even keel.
African Americans see a widening gulf between the values of middle class and poor blacks, and nearly four-in-ten say that because of the diversity within their community, blacks can no longer be thought of as a single race.
Americans believe that births to unwed women are a big problem for society, and they take a mixed view at best of cohabitation without marriage.
For many Americans, demonstrating patriotism means showing the flag. Overall, 62% say they display the flag at home, in the office, or on their car.
A new survey also finds that those with homosexual or lesbian relatives or friends are more likely to accept gay marriage and oppose the firing of gay teachers.
The first-ever, nationwide, random sample survey of Muslim Americans finds them to be largely assimilated, happy with their lives, and moderate with respect to many of the issues that have divided Muslims and Westerners around the world.
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About Pew Research Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
