Reflects changing religious landscape in the United States.
Diversity in America is increasing, with more evidence pouring in from a new Pew Research Center Study released today: although the majority of U.S. adults report that they were raised in families with a single religious faith, roughly one-in-five (21%) say they were raised by parents who came from different religious traditions.
The study helps outline the changing religious landscape in the United States, where about one-in-ten adults (9%) say they were raised by two people, both of whom were religiously affiliated but with different religious backgrounds, such as a Protestant mother and a Catholic father, or a Jewish mother and a Protestant stepfather.
An additional 12% say they were raised by one person who was religiously affiliated (with, for example, Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism or another religion) and another person who was religiously unaffiliated (atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular”).
Religiously mixed backgrounds remain the exception in America. Roughly eight-in-ten U.S. adults (79%) say they were raised within a single religion, either by two parents who had the same faith or by a single parent.
But the number of Americans raised in religiously mixed homes appears to be growing. Fully one-quarter of young adults in the Millennial generation (27%) say they were raised in a religiously mixed family. Fewer Generation Xers (20%), Baby Boomers (19%) and adults from the Silent and Greatest generations (13%) say they were raised in such a household.
The religious backgrounds of young adults also stand out in other ways. For example, nearly one-quarter of Millennials (24%) say they were raised by at least one parent who was a religious “none,” including 15% who were raised by one religiously affiliated person and one unaffiliated person; 6% who say they were raised by two parents, both of whom were unaffiliated; and 3% who were raised by a single parent who was unaffiliated with any religion. By contrast, only 11% of adults in the Silent and Greatest generations say they had one or more religiously unaffiliated parents.
In addition, only a quarter of Millennials (24%) say they were raised by two Protestant parents. Twice as many adults in the Silent and Greatest generations (48%) say they were raised by two Protestants.
Some of the survey’s other key findings include:
- Religious “nones”: Americans are most likely to identify in adulthood as religiously unaffiliated if they were raised exclusively by a parent or parents who were unaffiliated themselves. Indeed, among adults who say they were raised either by a single parent who had no religion or by two people who were both religious “nones,” a solid majority (62%) identify as “nones” today. But there also are many “nones” who come from religiously mixed backgrounds. Nearly four-in-ten of those who say they had one parent who identified with a religion and another parent who was religiously unaffiliated describe themselves as “nones” today. And one-quarter of those raised by a Protestant and a Catholic are now religiously unaffiliated. One-in-five people who were raised exclusively by Catholics are religious “nones” today, as are 14% of those who say they were raised solely by Protestants.
- Catholics: Most people raised solely by Catholics (62%) continue to identify as Catholics in adulthood, which is on par with the share of those raised solely by “nones” who remain religiously unaffiliated today. But those raised by one Catholic parent and one non-Catholic parent have less than a 50-50 chance of identifying with Catholicism as adults. Among U.S. adults from a mixed Protestant/Catholic background, for example, just 29% identify as Catholics today, while 38% are Protestants and 26% are “nones.” And among those raised by one Catholic and one religiously unaffiliated parent, 32% identify with Catholicism today, while 42% are religious “nones” and 20% are Protestants.
- Protestants: Eight-in-ten people raised exclusively within Protestantism continue to identify as Protestants today. And 56% of those raised by a Protestant parent and a religiously unaffiliated parent now identify as Protestants. But many Americans who were raised by at least one Protestant have left the specific denomination of their Protestant parent or parents. For example, just 24% of all people raised by one Protestant and one religious “none” still identify with their Protestant parent’s denominational family – e.g., as a Baptist if the parent was a Baptist.
- Mother knows best: Most Americans who were raised by a biological or adoptive mother and father say their parents played an equal role in their religious upbringing. But among the roughly four-in-ten adults who say one of their parents (either biological or adoptive) was “more” responsible for their religious upbringing, far more name their mother than their father.