(Photo: Getty/iStock)
New polling from the Pew Research Center suggests that religion in the United States has entered a period of relative stability after decades of decline — but the data offers no clear sign of a nationwide religious revival among young adults, despite growing media interest in the idea.
Pew’s latest findings indicate that key measures of religious life — including religious affiliation, daily prayer, the importance of religion, and regular attendance at services — have held broadly steady since around 2020.
The share of Americans identifying as Christian, belonging to another faith, or identifying with no religion have also remained largely unchanged in recent years.
Pew surveys conducted since 2020 consistently find that around 70% of US adults say they belong to a religion, with no clear upward or downward shift in affiliation.
That steadiness stands out because it follows a long downward trend, says Pew. The research group points to generational replacement as a major driver of the earlier decline: older cohorts have typically been more religious, while younger cohorts have tended to be less so.
The research also notes that within most generations, people have generally become less religious over time as they age.
A key point of interest is whether religious engagement among younger Americans is beginning to change direction.
While some commentators have pointed to the possibility of renewed interest in religion among young adults — particularly young men — analysis of Pew’s latest polling, alongside other major datasets, finds no clear evidence of a widespread or nationwide resurgence.
On average, young adults remain substantially less religious than older Americans, and Pew notes that today’s young adults are also less religious than young adults were a decade ago.
Some 59% of the oldest adults reported that they pray daily in the 2025 National Public Opinion Reference Survey, compared with 30% of adults born between 1995 and 2002.
Similarly, 43% of the oldest Americans reported attending religious services no less than once a month, compared with 26% of young adults in the same cohort.
The polling finds no indication of large-scale movement of young men into Christianity, and conversion patterns still point to Christianity losing more people than it is gaining through switching.
There are, Pew notes, a few notable developments — but they do not, in its view, add up to a national revival.
One is a shrinking gender gap among the youngest adults: young men and young women now look similar in levels of religiousness, a change from earlier decades when young women were typically more religious.
In the 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study, 57% of women aged 18 to 24 described themselves as religious, compared with 58% of men.
Pew says this shift is driven largely by declining religiousness among women, rather than rising religiousness among men.
The data also suggests that the very youngest adults sometimes appear to be more religious than those just a few years older.
For example, about 30% of adults born between 2003 and 2006 reported attending religious services at least monthly, compared with 24% of those born between 1995 and 2002.
However, Pew cautions this has happened before and often fades as cohorts age and leave home.
The American polling picture contrasts with recent UK-focused commentary suggesting a different direction of travel.
In Britain, the narrative of a “Quiet Revival” has gained traction, supported by reports from some congregations of rising attendance — particularly among young people and young men — and boosted by anecdotes from clergy of unusually large attendance at some services.
Alpha founder Nicky Gumbel has said that something seems to be changing and Holy Trinity Brompton recently enjoyed far more people at their services than expected for the time of year.
Retired Anglican bishop Michael Marshall is among those arguing that signs of renewal are emerging, linking the trend to growing disillusionment with “consumerism, careerism and technology”, and urging churches to respond with renewed mission.
