The practice of Christianity as a religion is declining in America, according to a new report by Pew Research Center and the General Social Survey published on Tuesday.
Christianity's demographic has been dwindling since the 1990s, the report said, as many adults transition to an identity of atheist, agnostic, or "nothing in particular."
In the early 1990s, about 90% of people in the U.S. identified as Christians, the report said. In 2020, Christians accounted for about 64% of the U.S. population, including children.
Meanwhile, those who are not affiliated with a religion has grown from 16% in 2007 to 30% in 2020, according to the research. All other religions, including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, accounted for about 6% in 2020.
Depending on whether religious switching continues at recent rates, speeds up or stops entirely, Pew's projections show Christians of all ages shrinking from 64% to between a little more than half (54%) and just above one-third (35%) of all Americans by 2070. Over that same period, "nones" would rise from the current 30% to somewhere between 34% and 52% of the U.S. population.
Even if nobody switches their religious affiliation in the coming decades, the number of religiously unaffiliated people is hypothesized to approach or exceed the number of Christians by 2070, the report found.
Switching rates are based on patterns observed in recent decades, through 2019, according to Pew. "For example, we estimate that 31% of people raised Christian become unaffiliated between ages 15 to 29, the tumultuous period in which religious switching is concentrated. An additional 7% of people raised Christian become unaffiliated later in life, after the age of 30."
The decline of Christianity and the rise of the "nones" may have complex causes and far-reaching consequences for politics, family life and civil society, Pew notes.
Religiously unaffiliated Americans today are not uniformly nonbelieving or nonpracticing, Pew adds. Many religious "nones" partake in traditional religious practices despite their lack of religious identity, including a solid majority who believe in some kind of higher power or spiritual force.