Washington D.C., Apr 18, 2019 / 14:00 pm
Church membership in the United States has dropped considerably in the last two decades, and the number of people who say they have no religion has increased, a new report from Gallup shows.
The decline in "membership" of a specific church or parish community appears especially pronounced among Catholics and young people.
Nearly one out of three millennials, defined as people born between 1980 and 2000, describe themselves as having no religion. Of the 68% who said they do have a religious faith, only 57% said they belong to a church.
Twenty years ago, when members of "Generation X" were the same age as millennials, 62% --nearly two out of three--were members of a church. Today, 54% of Generation X members belong to a church, and 79% said they have a religious belief of some sort.