Voters’ attitudes about race and gender are even more divided than in 2016

Voters who support Joe Biden and those planning to vote for Donald Trump are even more divided in their views of race and gender than Hillary Clinton and Trump supporters were in 2016. Nearly three-in-four Biden supporters say it is a lot more difficult to be a Black person than a White person in the U.S., compared with a smaller majority (57%) of Clinton supporters in 2016. By contrast, just 9% of Trump supporters now say this, virtually unchanged from 11% four years ago.

• Americans’ expectations about voting in 2020 presidential election are colored by partisan differences
• Hispanic voters say the economy, health care and COVID-19 are top issues in 2020 presidential election
• See all of our Election 2020 research

Despite pandemic, many Europeans still see climate change as greatest threat to their countries

Climate change outpaces or ties infectious disease as the most frequently mentioned “major threat” in eight of 14 countries polled this past summer, including seven of the nine European countries surveyed. People in five countries, including the United States, name the spread of disease as the foremost threat as the coronavirus pandemic continues. People in two countries, Australia and Denmark, name cyberattacks.

• See all of our coronavirus research

U.S. teens take after their parents religiously, attend services together and enjoy family rituals

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. Most U.S. teens share the religious affiliation of their parents or legal guardians and attend services about as often as their parents do. When there are differences between kids and their parents, however, it’s usually the teens who are less religious.

• 10 key findings about the religious lives of U.S. teens and their parents

Few Americans are confident in tech companies to prevent misuse of their platforms in the 2020 election

Three-quarters of U.S. adults say technology companies have a responsibility to prevent the misuse of their platforms to influence the presidential election, but only around a quarter say they are very or somewhat confident in these firms to do so. Since January, the share of Republicans who say tech companies are responsible for preventing misuse of their platforms has declined, while the share of Democrats saying this has grown.

• Americans think social media can help build movements, but can also be a distraction

59% of U.S. parents with lower incomes say their child may face digital obstacles in schoolwork

A new analysis of data collected in early April finds that many parents with lower incomes who had children in schools that were teaching remotely at the time said their children would likely face digital obstacles in completing their schoolwork. These obstacles included having to do schoolwork on a cellphone, having to use public Wi-Fi and not being able to complete work due to not having access to a computer at home.

Democrats made gains from multiple sources in 2018 midterm victories

To understand how Americans voted in 2018 and how their turnout and vote choices differed from 2016, we surveyed U.S. adults and verified their turnout using commercial voter files that aggregate state turnout records. The analysis offers a detailed portrait of the demographic composition and vote choices of the 2018 electorate.

‘After the Fact’ podcast: Conversations on science

A growing share of Americans have confidence in scientists, but there are political divides over the role of scientific experts in policy issues. Director of Science and Society Research Cary Funk shared these findings and more on a new After the Fact podcast from The Pew Charitable Trusts about the state of trust and science in America today.

Key facts about U.S. Latinos for National Hispanic Heritage Month

‘Love’ reaction steadily overcomes ‘anger’ as response to lawmakers’ posts on Facebook

Decoded: Adapting how we ask about the gender of our survey respondents

From our research