FAITH & NEW FACES
Under 50% of U.S. now white, Christian
THE PERCENTAGE of Americans who identify as white and Christian has dipped below 50%, according to a survey released Wednesday.
The shift occurs amid a seismic change in America’s religious landscape that has fewer young Americans, and more Hispanics, identifying as Christians.
An increase in Americans who say they are unaffiliated with religion at all has also contributed to the downturn. Since 1991, the share of Americans who say they are unaffiliated has increased to 24%, from a low of 6%.
Even more young Americans — 38% — say they are unaffiliated.
Christians remain a majority religion in the U.S., at nearly 70%, but only 43% of Americans identify as both white and Christian. Four decades ago, 81% did.
Only 30% identify as white and Protestant. In 1976, a majority — 55 % — of Americans were white Protestants, the survey, conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute, or PRRI, shows.
The survey also presents a notable decline in white Evangelical Protestants. The number fell from 23% to 17% over 10 years, from 2006 to 2016.
White Catholics experienced a similar decline in membership over the same time period, dropping from 16% to 11%. White mainline Protestants dropped from 18% to 13%.
While non-Christian religious groups are growing, they still represent fewer than one in 10 Americans combined, the study showed.
Jewish Americans make up 2% of the public while Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus each constitute just 1%.
A shift in young Americans’ religious affiliations and the increase of nonwhite membership in the Catholic Church have contributed to the changing makeup of Americans’ religious identities.
As far as ethnic makeup goes, 52% of Catholics under the age of 30 are Hispanic.
The PRRI survey polled more than 100,000 people from January 2016 to January 2017. Its margin of error was plus or minus 0.4 percentage points.