About 30% of adult American profess they do not have any religious affiliation, according to a new study exploring the growing secularization in American society.
In 2007, only 16% of American adults surveyed by the Pew Research Center identified themselves as religious “nones” – people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religious identity.
That figure is now 29%, according to a new Pew research released on Tuesday.
“The religiously unaffiliated share of the public is six percentage points higher than it was five years ago and 10 points higher than a decade ago,” the center said.
The survey also asked respondents how often they pray and how important they consider religion to be in their lives. Survey results revealed that 45% of the American adult population pray on a daily basis, compared to 58% in the 2007 survey. Now, 32% of American adults say they rarely or never pray, up from 18% in 2007.
At the same time, religion in Canada is at an all-time low, with recently released data from Statistics Canada showing only 68 per cent of Canadians 15 or older now report having a religious affiliation.
It’s the first time that number has dipped below 70 per cent since StatCan began tracking the data in 1985.
