Trust and mistrust in Americans’ views of scientific experts

In an era when science and politics often appear to collide, public confidence in scientists is on the upswing, and six-in-ten Americans say scientists should play an active role in policy debates. At the same time, partisans are divided over how they view the value and objectivity of scientific experts.

• Americans often trust practitioners more than researchers but are skeptical about scientific integrity
• Americans say open access to data and independent review inspire more trust in research findings
• More Democrats than Republicans trust the objectivity of scientists and the scientific method

Climate change and Russia are partisan flashpoints in public’s views of global threats

Among Democrats, climate change ranks as the top international threat to the United States, but among Republicans, it ranks lowest, according to a new survey. Democrats have also grown much more likely than Republicans to perceive Russia as a major threat. 

• The share of Americans saying China is a serious problem has increased
• Majorities in both parties now have positive views of free trade agreements
• Most Americans say tariff increases have been bad for the nation
• Most say Trump should focus on domestic rather than foreign policy

College faculty have become more racially and ethnically diverse, but remain far less so than students

As of fall 2017, around a quarter of postsecondary faculty at U.S. colleges were nonwhite, compared with 45% of undergraduate students. This imbalance extends to specific racial and ethnic groups: Only 5% of faculty members were Hispanic, for example, compared with 20% of undergraduates.

Why is the U.S. teen birth rate falling?

The teen birth rate in the U.S. is at a record low, dropping below 18 births per 1,000 girls and women ages 15 to 19 for the first time since the government began regularly collecting data on this group. The decline has occurred across all major racial and ethnic groups, though disparities persist.

About a quarter of large U.S. newspapers laid off staff in 2018

Layoffs continued to pummel U.S. newspapers in 2018. Mid-market papers – those with average Sunday circulations between 100,000 and 249,999 – took the brunt of these layoffs. Meanwhile, 14% of large digital-native news websites experienced layoffs.

Americans have become much less positive about tech companies’ impact on the U.S.

Four years ago, technology companies were widely seen as having a positive impact on the United States. But the share of Americans who hold this view has tumbled 21 percentage points since then, from 71% to 50%. Opinions about the effect of churches and religious organizations in the U.S. have also become less positive – and more partisan – since 2017. 

A view of the nation’s future through kindergarten demographics

The number of states where at least one-in-five public school kindergartners are Latino has more than doubled since 2000. Latino children accounted for at least 20% of public school kindergarten students in 18 states and D.C. in 2017, up from eight states in 2000.

• The most common age among whites in the U.S. is 58 – more than double that of racial and ethnic minorities

10 facts about Americans and Twitter

Two-thirds of Americans favor raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour

Europe experienced a surge in government restrictions on religious activity over the last decade

U.S. Jews know a lot about religion – but other Americans know little about Judaism