Much has been written about the growth of the religious conservatives and their increasing importance in American politics, as illustrated in the last presidential election. But a contrary trend has received much less attention – growth in the number of “non-identifiers” who report having a secular orientation or, at least, no fixed religion. While most non-identifiers believe in God, they have a different demographic profile and hold different political views than those who profess some religious identity. A recently completely report, co-authored by Sid Groeneman and Gary A. Tobin, found that nearly one in six American adults (16%) are non-identifiers. This figure is sharply higher than estimates of 10% or less made in the early 1990s.
Among other key findings from this report:
- Non-identifiers make up the third largest religion-defined group in the U.S. , ranking behind Catholics and Baptists;
- Being raised in more than one religious tradition often leads to having no religion as an adult;
- Persons with no religious identity tend to be younger than identifiers, live in the West or in New England, and are more likely to be male than female.
This research is based on data collected in 2001-02 as part of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research's Survey of Heritage and Religious Identification, developed by the authors of the report.
The full paper in Adobe Acrobat format can be read on-screen or downloaded by clicking on this link: Click here to view the paper (230 KB)
A shortened version of this paper has been published in the January 2005 issue of the new online journal, Public Opinion Pros: www.publicopinionpros.com