Are Americans Really Losing Their Religion?

The biggest story in American religion is the dramatic rise of the “nones”—people who say they are atheist, agnostic or have no particular religious faith. The nones are currently at an all-time high of about 30% of the population; for Americans born since 1996, the figure is around 45%. Yet it’s striking how little is known about this group. For several decades, social science has been content to lump all 100 million nonreligious Americans into a single category.