Younger adults, independents more critical of their district’s past congressional candidate fields
Younger Americans are less likely than their elders and partisans are more likely than independents to have positive views of past congressional candidate pools in their districts.
Americans are far more religious than adults in other wealthy nations
Americans pray more often, are more likely to attend weekly religious services and ascribe higher importance to faith in their lives than adults in other wealthy, Western democracies, such as Canada, Australia and most European states, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.
Newsroom employment dropped nearly a quarter in less than 10 years, with greatest decline at newspapers
Newsroom employment across the United States continues to decline, driven primarily by job losses at newspapers. And even though digital-native news outlets have experienced some recent growth in employment, too few newsroom positions were added to make up for recent losses in the broader industry.
Turnout in this year’s U.S. House primaries is up, especially on the Democratic side
In the 31 states that have already held their House primaries, 13.6 million people have cast Democratic ballots (10.1% of registered voters), versus 7.4 million (6% of registered voters) at this point in 2014.
Most Americans say higher ed is heading in wrong direction, but partisans disagree on why
About six-in-ten Americans say higher education in the United States is going in the wrong direction. Republicans and Democrats are worlds apart on why.
More Americans anticipate downsides than upsides from gene editing for babies
About half of Americans believe that within the next 50 years science will find a way to eliminate virtually all birth defects through gene editing. Yet majorities of Americans harbor at least some reservations about the impact on society of more widespread use of gene editing.
Moderates in Congress go local on Facebook more than the most ideological members
For the average moderate legislator, about 54% of a member’s Facebook posts discussed local issues between 2015 and 2017. But for the average very liberal or very conservative legislator, just 38% of posts dealt with local issues.
Number of foreign college graduates staying in U.S. to work climbed again in 2017, but growth has slowed
A record 276,500 foreign graduates received work permits under the Optional Practical Training program in the U.S. in 2017, up from 257,100 in 2016.
In Western Europe, familiarity with Muslims is linked to positive views of Muslims and Islam
Across Western Europe, people who say they personally know a Muslim are generally more likely than others to have positive opinions of Muslims and their religion. However, knowing something about Islam – as opposed to personally knowing a Muslim – is less associated with positive feelings of Muslims and Islam.
Despite Brexit negotiations, most in UK see EU membership as good for their economy
At the same time, 73% of people in the United Kingdom say they would like to see some powers currently held by the EU returned to national governments. A majority say membership in the EU has been a good thing for their nation’s economy.