My Favorite Findings From 2022

What our top charts and figures say about the country’s future

We're days away from 2023, but before closing the book on 2022 I want to take a moment to reflect on what we’ve learned this year. Selecting just five charts to highlight a full year’s worth of work is extraordinarily difficult and inherently subjective. The following charts are not necessarily ones that attracted an inordinate amount of attention, were uniquely provocative, or are even all that surprising. In reviewing the 100+ charts and figures we produced in 2022, I was guided more by what these findings say about the country’s future. So, without further ado, here are my favorite findings from 2022. 

#1 Abortion Supercharged Young Female Voters in 2022 

No group of Americans was more alarmed by the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson than young women. Overwhelmingly, young women support access to abortion, including nearly half who say it should be available without restrictions. By late summer, more than six in ten (61 percent) young women said that abortion was a critical issue for them personally—outpacing every other issue. While Americans overall were far less likely to say abortion was a pressing personal concern, they also strongly supported abortion rights—nearly half said abortion should be available without any restrictions. In 2022, young women strongly backed Democratic candidates leading to the emergence of a significant gender gap among young voters.  

Read more: “Gender, Generation and Abortion: Shifting Politics and Perspectives After Roe” 

#2 The Disappearance of Family Dinner 

Family dinner, once a defining feature of childhood, has become a rarity in a growing number of American homes. Gen Zers are far less likely than previous generations to report having grown up sharing daily meals with their family: only 38 percent say that their family had daily meals together during their childhood, compared to more than three-quarters (76 percent) of Baby Boomers. Relatedly, feelings of loneliness growing up are much more common among Generation Z than Americans raised in earlier eras. 

Read more: “Emerging Trends and Enduring Patterns in American Family Life” 

#3 Young Women Are Turning Away from Organized Religion 

Historically, women have been more religious than men, with mothers (rather than fathers) prioritizing passing on religious values to their children. However, our recent surveys show that young women are less religious than men, and the attitudes of young women toward organized religion have grown much more hostile in just the past few years. Only 38 percent of young women believe churches and places of worship “mostly bring people together,” a 10-point drop over the last three years. Roughly one in three young women now say that organized religion is divisive. 

Read more: “A Generation-Defining Moment for Young Women” 

#4 The Democratic Party Became Less White After the Obama Presidency 

White voters—especially those without a college degree—have been steadily abandoning the Democratic Party for years. Or at least that’s what voting trends have shown. But a trove of data from Gallup tells a more complicated and intriguing story. The racial composition of the Democratic Party remained relatively stable from the late 1990s until roughly 2007. Then, something remarkable happened. The percentage of white Democrats dropped precipitously. Before the Obama presidency, whites made up about 70 percent of self-identified Democrats. And after? Fifty-five percent, a rate that has held steady since. 

Read more: “The Democratic Party’s Transformation: More Diverse, Educated, and Liberal but Less Religious”

#5 White Evangelical Protestants Are Shrinking 

White evangelical Protestants have exercised considerable influence over American politics and culture for decades, due in no small part to their size. Yet there are fewer of them today than at the turn of the century. As many as one in three Americans once identified as a white evangelical Christian. But now, according to Gallup, evangelical Christians are experiencing an extraordinary decline. Over the last 20 years, the number of Americans who identify as white evangelical Protestants has fallen by 12 points to 21 percent. Notably, this decline is concentrated exclusively among white evangelical Christians: Black and Hispanic evangelicals have been relatively stable over the same time period. 

Read More: “The Coming Evangelical Christian Decline”  

Before signing off for the year, I want to take a moment to express appreciation for my subscribers. There has been an explosion of newsletters over the past few years—that’s good! But it means we’re constantly vying for your attention. I'm grateful to all of you, both the new additions and veteran subscribers who have been with me from the very beginning. 

There’s a lot more in store for 2023. We’re days away from releasing a major report that explores how the pandemic impacted religious practice and identity. We’ll be releasing a new study on dating and politics shortly thereafter. (You’re not going to want to miss this one!) As always, I’ll try to provide you with the very best analysis and insights drawn from emerging public opinion research to help us make sense of this extraordinarily exciting, but sometimes confusing and turbulent, time. I hope you’ll continue to follow along. I wish you all a very happy new year.