Overview
- The latest Pew analyses find about 40% of U.S. adults are Protestant, 29% are religiously unaffiliated, and 14% are former Protestants, including 10% who are now unaffiliated.
- Most Protestants cite belief in their tradition’s teachings (71%), spiritual fulfillment (66%) and finding life meaning (61%) as key reasons for their current identity.
- Religiously unaffiliated adults most often say they can be moral without religion (78%), they question many teachings (64%) and they do not need religion to be spiritual (54%).
- Switching from no religion in childhood to adopting a religion in adulthood is rare at about 3%, and joiners most often point to belief (61%), spiritual needs (60%) and life meaning (55%).
- Parents report that 43% of their children attend services at least monthly, 25% talk about religion with their kids very often, and 22% describe their households as highly religious, with mothers more often leading religious instruction.