Study: 'No-religion' group on rise
HARTFORD, Conn. (UPI) -- Americans who say they subscribe to no religion will probably account for 25 percent of the population in 20 years, U.S. researchers report.
The study, "American Nones: The Profile of the No Religion Population," found 34 million American adults indicated "none" when asked their religious affiliation. The percentage of "nones" in the U.S. population rose from 8.2 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008.
The study was conducted by Trinity Professors Barry Kosmin and Ariela Keysar, with University of Tampa Professor Ryan Cragun and Juhem Navarro-Rivera of the University of Connecticut, Trinity College said on its Web site.
The authors said the most significant finding of the study is that 19 percent of men are nones, while only 12 percent of women say they have no religion -- indicating no narrowing of the gender gap since 1990.
The study was based on the findings of the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, which employed similar research methods in its 1990 and 2001 surveys, and has a sampling error of approximately .3 percentage points.
The authors say the growth of nones was observed within every demographic -- including marital status, political party affiliation, education level, economic status and race. Nones are the only category that has increased in number in every region of the country during the past 18 years.
Since 22 percent of adults under age 30 identify as nones, the group's numbers will burgeon as these nones will have children, Cragun said.
______________________________________
Your brother in Christ,
Doc
HARTFORD, Conn. (UPI) -- Americans who say they subscribe to no religion will probably account for 25 percent of the population in 20 years, U.S. researchers report.
The study, "American Nones: The Profile of the No Religion Population," found 34 million American adults indicated "none" when asked their religious affiliation. The percentage of "nones" in the U.S. population rose from 8.2 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008.
The study was conducted by Trinity Professors Barry Kosmin and Ariela Keysar, with University of Tampa Professor Ryan Cragun and Juhem Navarro-Rivera of the University of Connecticut, Trinity College said on its Web site.
The authors said the most significant finding of the study is that 19 percent of men are nones, while only 12 percent of women say they have no religion -- indicating no narrowing of the gender gap since 1990.
The study was based on the findings of the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, which employed similar research methods in its 1990 and 2001 surveys, and has a sampling error of approximately .3 percentage points.
The authors say the growth of nones was observed within every demographic -- including marital status, political party affiliation, education level, economic status and race. Nones are the only category that has increased in number in every region of the country during the past 18 years.
Since 22 percent of adults under age 30 identify as nones, the group's numbers will burgeon as these nones will have children, Cragun said.
______________________________________
Your brother in Christ,
Doc
