U.S. teens take after their parents religiously and enjoy family rituals, but often participate at their parents’ behest and tend to be less religious

When it comes to religion, American teenagers and their parents tend to have a lot in common – though not quite as much as the parents may think, according to a new analysis of Pew Research Center survey data.

We surveyed both U.S. teens (ages 13 to 17) and their parents (one parent for each teen), finding that most teens share the religious affiliation of their parents or legal guardians. (Catholic parents are likely to have teens who identify as Catholics, for example.) And on the whole, U.S. teens attend religious services about as often as their parents do: 44% of U.S. teens say they go to religious services at least once a month, almost exactly the same as the share of their parents who say they attend monthly (43%).

But when there are religious differences between adults and their adolescent children, however, it’s usually the teens who are less religious than the parents. And in some cases when parents' and teens' beliefs do not align, the teens say their parents are not aware of these differences.

• 10 key findings from the survey

Half of U.S. Christians say casual sex between consenting adults is sometimes or always acceptable

Many Christian traditions disapprove of premarital sex. And even though Christians in the United States hold less permissive views than religiously unaffiliated Americans about dating and sex, most say it’s acceptable in at least some circumstances for consenting adults to have sex outside of marriage, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

For example, half of U.S. Christians say casual sex – defined in the survey as sex between consenting adults who are not in a committed romantic relationship – is sometimes or always acceptable. Six-in-ten Catholics (62%) take this view, as do 56% of Protestants in the historically Black tradition, 54% of mainline Protestants and 36% of evangelical Protestants.

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