Generations

No wonder the world is going gaga over the birth of the newest heir to the British throne. We’re all related by blood to Kate, Will and their little prince. He’s our cousin—though for most people of European descent in the United States he’s our distant cousin as much as 35 times removed, give or take a few generations.

Compared to other generations, a smaller percentage of Millennials say the U.S. is the greatest country in the world.

Despite their “share everything” image, privacy still matters for young American adults. But they distinguish between information they voluntarily share on social-networking sites and systematic monitoring by government agencies of telephone and internet traffic. In response to revelations last week that the NSA is conducting such surveillance of Americans, government officials told Congress this week that […]

Nearly half of middle-aged adults have a parent 65 or older and are caring for or financially supporting a child.

Two-thirds of young adults ages 18-to-24 engage in some sort of political activity on social networking sites.

Report For the first time in more than four decades of polling on the issue, a majority of Americans favor legalizing the use of marijuana. A national survey finds that 52% say that the use of marijuana should be made legal while 45% say it should not. Support for legalizing marijuana has risen 11 points […]

A key factor in rising support for same-sex marriage is that 14% of all Americans say they’ve changed their minds on the issue.

More than two-thirds of second-generation Latinos consider it very important for future generations to be able to speak Spanish.

About six-in-ten U.S.-born children of Hispanic and Asian-Americans consider themselves to be a “typical American.”

After running up record debt-to-income ratios during the bubble economy of the 2000s, young adults shed substantially more debt than older adults did during the Great Recession and its immediate aftermath—mainly by virtue of owning fewer houses and cars, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Federal Reserve Board and other government data. […]