The Number of Americans Who Pray or Believe in God Is at an All-Time Low

A new study claims that the number of Americans who pray or even say they believe in God has hit an all-time low. San Diego State University psychology professor Jean M. Twenge led the study, published in the journal Sage Open, which looked at data from 58,893 respondents to the General Social Survey. Researchers found that five times as many Americans in 2014 reported that they never prayed when compared with Americans in the early 1980s. Nearly twice as many over the same period also said they don’t believe in God. “Most previous studies concluded that fewer Americans were publicly affiliating with a religion, but that Americans were just as religious in private ways. That’s no longer the case, especially in the last few years The large declines in religious practice among young adults are also further evidence that millennials are the least religious generation in memory, and possibly in American history,” explained Twenge. Hardly surprising give the several recent studies, the largest decline in belief in God and prayer life was found among subjects between the ages of 18 and 29.