- Author: Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center's 2013 National Survey of Latinos and Religion finds that a majority (55%) of the nation's estimated 35.4 million Latino adults – or about 19.6 million Latinos – identify as Catholic today. About 22% are Protestant (including 16% who describe themselves as born-again or evangelical) and 18% are religiously unaffiliated.
The share of Hispanics who are Catholic likely has been in decline for at least the last few decades. But as recently as 2010, Pew Research polling found that fully two-thirds of Hispanics (67%) were Catholic. That means the Catholic share has dropped by 12 percentage points in just the last four years.
The long-term decline in the share of Catholics among Hispanics may partly reflect religious changes underway in Latin America, where evangelical churches have been gaining adherents and the share of those with no religious affiliation has been slowly rising in a region that historically has been overwhelmingly Catholic. But it also reflects religious changes taking place in the U.S., where Catholicism has had a net loss of adherents through religious switching (or conversion) and the share of the religiously unaffiliated has been growing rapidly in the general public.
Hispanics leaving Catholicism have tended to move in two directions. Some have become born-again or evangelical Protestants, a group that exhibits very high levels of religious commitment. On average, Hispanic evangelicals – many of whom also identify as either Pentecostal or charismatic Protestants – not only report higher rates of church attendance than Hispanic Catholics but also tend to be more engaged in other religious activities, including Scripture reading, Bible study groups and sharing their faith.
At the same time, other Hispanics have become religiously unaffiliated – that is, they describe themselves as having no particular religion or say they are atheist or agnostic. This group exhibits much lower levels of religious observance and involvement than Hispanic Catholics. In this respect, unaffiliated Hispanics roughly resemble the religiously unaffiliated segment of the general public.
Hispanic Catholics are somewhere in the middle. They fall in between evangelicals and the unaffiliated in terms of church attendance, frequency of prayer and the degree of importance they assign to religion in their lives, closely resembling white (non-Hispanic) Catholics in their moderate levels of religious observance and engagement
Source: Pew Research Center, The Shifting Religious Identity of Latinos in the United States, May 7, 2014.
- Author: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
Majorities across all demographic and political groups say there should be a way for illegal immigrants who meet certain requirements to stay in the U.S. legally. Among those who favor providing legal status, the balance of opinion is in favor of allowing those here illegally who meet the requirements to apply for citizenship. However, no more than about half in any demographic group supports permitting illegal immigrants to apply for citizenship.
In 2011, there were about 40 million immigrants in the United States. Of that total, 11.1 million, or 28 percent, were in this country illegally.
Thinking about immigrants generally, 49 percent of Americans say they strengthen the country because of their hard work and talents, while 41 percent say they are a burden because they take jobs, health care and housing. In a June 2010 poll, 39 percent said immigrants strengthened the country while 50 percent said they were a burden.
In addition, more Americans think that the growing number of newcomers in the United States strengthens society than believe that they threaten traditional American customs and values. About half (52%) say the growing number of newcomers in the U.S. strengthens society, while 43% say the influx of newcomers threatens traditional American values and customs.
Broad Support for Legal Status for Illegal Immigrants
Support for granting legal status to illegal immigrants is wide ranging. Eight-in-ten non-Hispanic blacks (82%) and Hispanics (80%) say those in the United States illegally should be allowed to stay if they meet certain requirements; about half of blacks (52%) and Hispanics (49%) say illegal immigrants should be able to apply for citizenship.
Two-thirds of non-Hispanic whites (67%) say illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in the country legally, while 31 percent say they should not. Four-in-ten whites say people in the United States illegally should have the chance to apply for citizenship if they meet certain requirements.
Among whites with no college degree, 61 percent favor allowing those in the U.S. illegally to stay legally, while 37 percent disagree. There is more support among white college graduates for permitting illegal immigrants to stay in the country legally (81% say they should, while just 17 percent say they should not).
The partisan differences over providing some form of legal status for illegal immigrants are modest: 76 percent of Democrats, 70 percent of independents and 64 percent of Republicans say illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in the United States if they meet certain requirements.
Whites in both parties are divided along educational lines over how to deal with illegal immigrants in the United States: Among white Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 92 percent of college graduates favor allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. legally if they meet certain requirements; support falls to 68 percent among white Democrats and Democratic leaners who have not completed college. Similarly, there is a 20-point education gap among white Republicans and GOP-leaning independents (75% of college graduates vs. 55% of non-college grads).
Racial, Ethnic, Partisan Differences in Views of Immigrants
While majorities across all groups support legal status for illegal immigrants, there are sharp differences in opinions about the impact of immigrants on the country. Opinions about immigrants have become somewhat more positive among most groups since 2010.
Fully 74 percent of Hispanics say that immigrants strengthen the country because of their hard work and talents. About half of blacks (52%) also say that immigrants strengthen the country, compared with just 41 percent of whites.
College graduates express far more positive opinions about the impact of immigrants than do those with less education. Fully 67 percent say immigrants strengthen the country, compared with 41 percent of those with no more than a high school education.
Opinions about whether the growing number of newcomers to the United States strengthens society or threatens American values break down along similar lines. Whites are divided (45% vs. 49%). Majorities of Hispanics (67%) and blacks (62%) say the growing number of newcomers strengthens American society.
Religion and Views of Immigrants
Majorities of all major religious groups say there should be a way for immigrants who are currently in the U.S. illegally and who meet certain requirements to stay in the country.
For the most part, those who favor legal status for illegal immigrants say they should be allowed to apply for citizenship.
Opinions among major religious groups are more divided when it comes to the impact of immigrants on the country.
A majority of white evangelical Protestants (55%) say that immigrants are burden because they take jobs, housing and health care, while about as many (58%) say they threaten traditional American customs and values.
Other religious groups have less negative views of the impact of immigrants. These differences in opinions, however, are largely the result of underlying differences between religious groups in race, political ideology, party identification and other factors; after controlling for these factors, the independent impact of religion is minimal.
Source: Originally published in Pew Research Center for the People and the Press as Most Say Illegal Immigrants Should Be Allowed To Stay, But Citizenship Is More Divisive, March 28, 2013.
- Author: Insight Tr3s
Hispanics and religion
More than 7 in 10 Hispanics 18 to 34 are Christian - and most are Catholic. To be exact, 72 percent of Hispanics age 18 to 34 are Christian, and 51 percent are Catholic. Other Christian religions represent smaller segments of the Hispanic population: 9 percent are “Christian,” 4 percent are “other evangelical Christian,” 4 percent are Pentecostal/Charismatic, and 3 percent are Baptist.
Just over half of Catholic adults 18 to 34 in the U.S. are Hispanic. Among total U.S. Catholic adults, more than 1 in 3 are Hispanic.
Hispanics 18 to 34 are four times more likely than non-Hispanics to be Catholic. 51 percent of Hispanics age 18 to 34 are Catholic, compared with 13 percent of non-Hispanics.
Young Hispanic adults are less likely than older Hispanics to be Catholic - and as likely to be Protestant. Though the percentages of young Hispanic adults are still large, they are smaller for the 18 to 29 group. 47 percent of Hispanics 18 to 29 are Catholic, compared with 56 percent of Hispanics 30 to 49 and 60-61 percent of those over 50. Meanwhile, 29 percent of Hispanics 18 to 29 are Protestant - compared with 27 percent of Hispanics over 30. While the Catholic Church is losing young adults, other Christian religions are not.
Over the last five years, Hispanics overall have become less likely to identify as Catholic - but are as likely to be Protestant. 54 percent of Hispanics said they were Catholic in 2012, down from 58 percent in 2008. However, 28 percent said they were Protestant, comparable to the 27 percent reported in 2008.
Catholicism is in rapid decline among non-Hispanics 18 to 34. From 2008 to 2012, the percentage of non-Hispanics 18 to 34 who consider themselves Catholic fell from 18 percent to 13 percent -- a decrease of nearly 30 percent. Hispanic Catholics 18 to 34 fell at a slower pace (61 percent in 2008 to 51 percent in 2012, a 16 percent decrease). Because non-Hispanic Catholics are declining faster, Hispanics will represent a larger share of young Catholics in the U.S. in the years to come.
Though smaller in number, Hispanic Protestants are more likely than Hispanic Catholics to identify as “very religious.” 60 percent of Hispanic Protestants said they were very religious, compared with 43 percent of Hispanic Catholics. Hispanic Catholics were more likely to consider themselves to be moderately religious (39 percent, vs. 29 percent of Hispanic Protestants). This trend held across age groups, though Hispanics over 30 were more likely than the 18-29 group to classify themselves as “very religious.”
When it comes to marriage, religious compatibility is very important to young Hispanics. They consider religion to be the third most important thing, following trust and love.
Source: Originally published in Insight Tr3s as Hispanics and Religion, using various reports: Experian Simmons, Fall 2012 and Fall 2008 NHCS Adult Study 12-month; Tr3s 2012 “Hispanic 18-34s Living The 'Next Normal'”; Gallup, “U.S. Catholic Hispanic Population Less Religious, Shrinking,” March 27, 2013.
- Author: Myriam Grajales-Hall
A nationwide survey conducted by The Pew Hispanic Center found that Hispanics in the United States haven’t fully embraced the terms “Hispanic” or “Latino.” Fifty-one percent said they most often identify themselves by their family’s country of origin, while only one in four preferred a pan-ethnic label.
Although a large number (69 percent) of the respondents indicated that Latinos in the U.S. have many different cultures rather than a common culture, they did expressed a strong and shared connection to the Spanish language. More than eight-in-ten Latino adults said they speak Spanish, and nearly all (95 percent) felt it is important for future generations to continue speaking Spanish.When asked about sharing a common identity with other Americans, about half said they consider themselves to be very different from the typical American. And just one-in-five said they use the term “American” most often to describe their identity.
The survey, When Labels Don’t Fit: Hispanics and Their Views of Identity reports that, “regardless of where they were born, large majorities of Latinos said that life in the U.S. is better than in their family’s country of origin. Also, nearly nine-in-ten (87%) say it is important for immigrant Hispanics to learn English in order to succeed in the U.S.” Most Hispanic immigrants also indicated “that if they had to do it all over again, they would come to the U.S.”
Looking at language use patterns, the report found that most Hispanics use Spanish, but that use of English rises through the generations.
When exploring the respondents' social and political beliefs and attitudes, the report found that:
- Hispanics, more so than the general public, believe in the efficacy of hard work
- Levels of personal trust are lower among Latinos than they are among the general public;
- Religion is more important in the lives of immigrant Hispanics than in the lives of native-born Hispanics.
- Latinos’ political views are more liberal than those of the general U.S. public.
Source: Pew Hispanic Center, When Labels Don’t Fit: Hispanics and Their Views of Identity, April 4, 2012.