{"id":17425,"date":"2017-12-28T10:45:13","date_gmt":"2017-12-28T18:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pocketwisdominsights.com\/pwicolab\/?p=17425"},"modified":"2019-02-18T21:01:38","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T05:01:38","slug":"17-striking-findings-from-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pocketwisdominsights.com\/pwicolab\/emod-blog\/third-party\/17-striking-findings-from-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Pew Research 17 Striking Findings From 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opening Sights: 2017<\/h2>\n

2017 has been a turbulent year with the threat of global economic instability and the threat of war looming over our heads. Over 2017, Pew Research Center, known for their impartial journalistic and research integrity, released 17 Striking Findings according to Abigail Geigr,\u00a0associate digital producer and writer for Pew Research Center.<\/p>\n

Informational Insights: Striking Reflections<\/h2>\n
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1. <\/big>Par<\/strong>tisan divides dwarf<\/strong>\u00a0demographic differences on key political values.<\/strong>\u00a0The average gap between the views of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents across 10 political values has increased from 15 percentage points in 1994 to 36 points today. Two decades ago, the average partisan differences on these items were only slightly wider than differences by religious attendance or educational attainment, and about as wide as differences across racial lines. Today, the partisan gaps far exceed differences across other key demographics.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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2.<\/big>\u00a0 Donald Trump\u2019s presidency has had a major impact on\u00a0<\/strong>how the world sees the United States<\/strong>.<\/strong>\u00a0A global median of just 22% have confidence in Trump to do the right thing when it comes to international affairs, according to a survey conducted last spring. The image of the U.S. abroad also suffered a decline: Just 49% have a favorable view, down from 64% at the end of Barack Obama\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0<\/big>About four-in-ten Americans say they live in a gun-owning household, while three-in-ten say they personally\u00a0<\/strong>own a gun<\/strong>.<\/strong>\u00a0Protection tops the list of reasons for owning a gun. And most gun owners (74%) say the right to own a firearm is essential to their personal sense of freedom. About three-quarters (73%) say they can\u2019t see themselves ever\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0owning a gun. Gun ownership is more common among men, whites and those who live in rural areas.<\/p>\n

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Gun owners and non-owners have starkly different views on gun violence in America. While a majority of those who do not own guns (59%) see gun violence as a major problem in the country today, just one-third of adults who own guns say this is a very big problem.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0<\/big>Democrats and Republicans disagree now more than ever on the\u00a0<\/strong>news media\u2019s \u201cwatchdog\u201d role<\/strong>.<\/strong>\u00a0Roughly nine-in-ten Democrats say news media criticism keeps political leaders from doing things that shouldn\u2019t be done, compared with 42% of Republicans \u00adwho say this \u2013 the widest gap in Pew Research Center surveys conducted since 1985. This stands in stark contrast to early 2016, when similar shares of Democrats (74%) and Republicans (77%) supported the media\u2019s watchdog role.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>5.<\/big>\u00a0Muslims are projected to be the world\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>fastest-growing major religious group<\/strong>\u00a0in the decades ahead.<\/strong>\u00a0By 2035, the number of babies born to Muslims is projected to modestly exceed births to Christians, mostly due to Muslims\u2019 relatively young population and high fertility rates.<\/p>\n

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The Muslim population in Europe, now accounting for 4.9% of the total population,\u00a0is projected to continue to rise. Even if there is no new migration in the coming decades (an unlikely scenario), the Muslim share of the region\u2019s population is expected to increase to 7.4% by 2050.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0<\/big>In the U.S.,\u00a0<\/strong>Hispanic identity fades across generations<\/strong>\u00a0as distance from immigrant roots grows.<\/strong>\u00a0High intermarriage rates and declining immigration are changing how some Americans with Hispanic ancestry see their identity. Most U.S. adults with Hispanic ancestry self-identify as Hispanic, but 11%, or 5 million, do not. While nearly all immigrant adults from Latin America or Spain say they are Hispanic, this share decreases by the third and fourth or higher generations.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0<\/big>Americans see fundamental differences between men and women, but men and women have different views on\u00a0<\/strong>the cause of these differences<\/strong>.<\/strong>\u00a0Majorities of women who see gender differences in the way people express their feelings, excel at work and approach parenting say differences between men and women are mostly based on societal expectations. Men who see differences in these areas tend to believe biology is the root.<\/p>\n

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8.\u00a0<\/big>Many Americans expect certain professions to be\u00a0<\/strong>dominated by automation in their lifetime<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 but few see their own jobs at risk.<\/strong>\u00a0Roughly three-quarters of Americans think it\u2019s realistic that robots and computers might one day do many jobs currently done by humans, and sizable majorities expect jobs such as fast food workers and insurance claims processors to be performed by machines within their lifetimes. Yet just 30% of American workers expect their own jobs or professions to become automated.<\/p>\n

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9.<\/big>\u00a0The share of Republicans who hold negative views of\u00a0<\/strong>the effect of colleges and universities on the country<\/strong>\u00a0has grown significantly since 2015.<\/strong>\u00a0Nearly six-in-ten Republicans and Republican leaners (58%) now say colleges have a negative effect. Two years ago, by contrast, 54% of Republicans said colleges were having a\u00a0positive\u00a0<\/em>effect. Democrats and Democratic leaners have consistently held positive views of the effect of colleges on the U.S.; 72% of Democrats and Democratic leaners say this today.<\/p>\n

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Republicans also have\u00a0\u201ccooler\u201d feelings toward college professors\u00a0than do Democrats. On a \u201cfeeling thermometer\u201d ranging from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the coldest rating and 100 is the warmest, Republicans give college professors an average rating of 46. By contrast, Democrats give them a far warmer average rating of 71.<\/p>\n

10.<\/big>\u00a0Immigrants are projected to play the primary role in the\u00a0growth of the American working-age population\u00a0in the coming decades.\u00a0<\/strong>The number of working-age immigrants is projected to increase from 33.9 million in 2015 to 38.5 million by 2035, with new immigrant arrivals accounting for all of that gain. Absent these new arrivals, the total projected U.S. working-age population would fall.<\/p>\n

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11.<\/big>\u00a0News stories about President Trump\u2019s first 60 days in office offered\u00a0<\/strong>far more negative assessments<\/strong>\u00a0than they did of prior administrations.<\/strong>\u00a0About six-in-ten stories on Trump\u2019s early days in office had a negative assessment, about three times more than in early coverage for Obama and roughly twice that of Bush and Clinton. Coverage of Trump\u2019s early time in office moved further away from a focus on the policy agenda and more toward character and leadership.<\/p>\n

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12.\u00a0<\/big>In the past 10 years, the share of U.S. adults\u00a0<\/strong>living without a spouse or partner<\/strong>\u00a0has increased.<\/strong>\u00a0This rise in \u201cunpartnered\u201d Americans, from 39% in 2007 to 42% today, has been most pronounced among young adults: Roughly six-in-ten adults younger than 35 are now living without a spouse or partner. The share of \u201cunpartnered\u201d adults also has risen more sharply among those who are not employed.<\/p>\n

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13.<\/big>\u00a0About half of 2.2 million people who sought asylum in Europe during the 2015 and 2016 refugee surge were\u00a0<\/strong>still in limbo<\/strong>\u00a0at the end of 2016 and did not know if they would be allowed to stay.<\/strong>\u00a0Among Europe\u2019s asylum seekers waiting on decisions as of the end of 2016, an estimated two-thirds had not had a decision made on their case \u2013 and another third (about 385,000) were appealing their first decision after being rejected. For asylum seekers from certain countries, the share waiting was much higher than the share approved. For example, an estimated 89% of Albanian applicants between 2015 and 2016 were waiting to know their status in Europe at the end of 2016.<\/p>\n

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14.\u00a0<\/big>About eight-in-ten Americans say they\u00a0<\/strong>understand the risks and challenges of police work<\/strong>, but 86% of police say the public does\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>understand<\/strong>. This is one of several areas where the views of police and those of the public diverge significantly. For example, while half of the public says the country still needs to make changes to give blacks equal rights with whites, this view is shared by just 16% of police. Law enforcement officers and the public are broadly in agreement on other issues, such as making private gun sales and gun show sales subject to background checks.<\/p>\n

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15.<\/big> About six-in-ten Americans ages 18 to 29 say the primary way they watch television now is with\u00a0<\/strong>streaming services on the internet<\/strong>.<\/strong>\u00a0Much smaller shares of older Americans cite online streaming services as their primary way of watching TV; older Americans tend to rely on cable connections. Overall, just 28% of Americans cite streaming services as the primary way they watch TV.<\/p>\n

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16.\u00a0<\/big>Views on whether\u00a0<\/strong>whites benefit from societal advantages<\/strong>\u00a0that blacks do not have are split sharply along racial and partisan lines.<\/strong>\u00a0Nearly eight-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (78%) say white people benefit at least a fair amount from advantages that blacks do not have. Among Republicans and Republican leaners, 72% say whites\u00a0do not\u00a0<\/em>benefit much or at all from these advantages. An overwhelming majority of blacks (92%) say whites benefit from societal advantages, while just 46% of whites say the same.<\/p>\n

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17.<\/big>\u00a0Science knowledge\u00a0is closely related to expectations for harm from climate change among Democrats, but not among Republicans.\u00a0<\/strong>In 2016, Democrats\u00a0with high science knowledge\u00a0were far more likely than Democrats with low science knowledge to say a series of environmental impacts would be very likely to occur as a result of climate change, including rising sea levels and intensifying storms. But there are only modest or no differences among Republicans with different levels of science knowledge in their expectations of harm to the Earth\u2019s ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Almost all Democrats with high knowledge about science say climate change is mostly due to human activity (93%); a much smaller share of Democrats with low science knowledge (49%) say the same. Among Republicans, there are\u00a0no<\/em>\u00a0significant differences by science knowledge about the causes of climate change.<\/p>\n

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Source:\u00a0\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/fact-tank\/2017\/12\/26\/17-striking-findings-from-2017\/<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Possibilities for Consideration: SYFY Future<\/h2>\n

What caught your interest or concern? Is there anything to really worry about or are these trends just an indication of the changing times?<\/p>\n