• This report is based on a groundbreaking study conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research of youth in Generation Y ages 18-25 years old. The nation-wide survey was conducted with 1385 total respondents between August 7 and November 18, 2004. Over-samples include 125 Muslim youth, 200 Jewish youth, 99 Asian youth, 136 African American youth, and 169 Hispanic youth.
• Less religious youth are concentrated among those who simply have no denominational preference (66 percent compared to 27 percent overall) and Jews (40 percent compared to 27 percent overall)
• Demographically, God-less youth are not that distinct from the rest of their peers.
  • They are more male (33 percent compared to 27 percent overall), especially college educated men (39 percent compared to 27 percent overall)
  • They are particularly likely to be found in the Northeast (41 percent compared to 27 percent overall).
  • A disproportionate number of Asian Americans (38 percent compared to 27 percent overall) are also God-less.
• Between 1972 and 2000, the percentage of young Americans identifying themselves as white steadily decreased from 88 percent to 65 percent.
  • Currently, 15 percent call themselves African American, 18 percent Hispanic, and 4 percent Asian.
  • By 2050, demographers project that Hispanics will constitute 24 percent and Asians will constitute 8 percent of the country.
• Nationally, a plurality of Americans identify themselves as Protestant (41 percent) while a quarter call themselves Catholic.
  • The remaining 36 percent are either non-denominational Christians, non- Judeo Christians faiths or simply nothing.
  • Many fewer young people call themselves Protestant (27 percent), with many saying they are just "Christian" (13 percent)
  • 23 percent of Americans call themselves evangelical.
  • The national percentage from traditions such as Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist is 2.6 percent of the country (which has grown from 0.8 in 1980 to 2.6 percent in 2000).
  • In this survey, approximately 10 percent identify as something other than a variant of Judeo-Christian tradition.
• The General Social Survey (GSS) reported that the number of Americans who claim no religious preference doubled from 7 percent in 1991 to 14 percent in 2000
• The National Election Study showed an increase from 8 percent to 13 percent from 1992 to 2000.
• In a CUNY study, 14 percent of 18-34 year olds say they are "secular" compared to 9 percent of 35-49 year olds, 9 percent of 50-64 year olds and 7 percent of people over 65 years of age.
• 23 percent of 18-25 year olds do not identify with a denomination at all and 18 percent describe themselves as neither spiritual nor religious.
• Weekly attendance drops 10 percent during the four years of high school, while the number of those with no religious affiliation increases by about 5 percent during the same period
  • Overall, about a third (36 percent) of young people say they attend religious services weekly
    • 27 percent say they attend Sunday school or other classes weekly, although certainly this number is overstated.
    • A little over a third (35 percent) report having participated in a religious group at their local place of worship over the past 12 months.
  • 38 percent, 68 monthy - Number of Generation Y that talk with their friends about religion 
    • 60 percent of Jewish youth say that they would rather express their faith by talking to their friends than by attending synagogue.
  • 55 percent weekly, 67 percent monthly - Number of Young people who pray before meals 
  • Read religious materials (33 percent weekly, 55 percent monthly). 
• When forced to characterize the nature of their religious attachment, a plurality of young people call themselves "religious" (44 percent), but a majority describe themselves as either "spiritual but not religious" (35 percent) or "neither" (18 percent)
• Only 7 percent say that all of their friends are members of the same religion, and a near majority says that only some or a few of their friends adhere to the same religion as themselves (47 percent).
• In fact, even the most religious youth maintain diverse networks of peers; only 9 percent of the Godly say that all of their friends are the same religion, though 52 percent say most of their friends are of the same faith.

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