In the analysis related to the public opinion poll, attention is drawn to the fact that the number of Christians in the country is rapidly decreasing, and they are being replaced by those who consider themselves atheists or non-religious. According to research, the number of young people leaving religion is increasing, and if this trend continues, Christianity, the historically dominant religion in the United States, will become a religious minority by 2045.
The authors of the research drew attention to the fact that at the beginning of the 1990s, 90% of Americans claimed to be Christians, but by 2020, their number, including children, had decreased to 64%. Meanwhile, the proportion of those declaring themselves religiously non-observant jumped from 16 percent in 2007 to 29 percent in 2020.
While older Americans stick mostly to their religion
It is customary for those under the age of 30 to reclassify themselves into the non-religious category
analysis says.
The researchers prepared several scenarios related to the expected development of the proportion of Christians in society for the next half century. According to the most pessimistic scenario, if current trends continue to grow infinitely, the proportion of believers will drop to 35 percent by 2070, while the proportion of non-religious will increase to 52 percent.
In the case of a limited strengthening of existing processes, a majority of 48 percent of non-religious people would oppose 39 percent of Christians in just half a century. At the current pace of “secularization”, believers will remain in a narrow majority in the US until 2070, at 46 percent compared to 41 percent of non-religious people.
The fourth scenario shows how the proportion would develop if no one left their religion from now on: Accordingly, and taking into account demographic factors, the researchers came to the conclusion that the proportion of believers will decrease from the currently calculated 64 percent to 54 by 2070., while the proportion of believers will increase Non-religious people are currently 30 to 34 percent.
A Pew Social Research Institute analysis of other religions estimates that the proportion of non-Christian believers will double and increase from 6 to 12 percent of the U.S. population by 2070, MTI reports.
