Pew Daily Number

The majority of adults who describe themselves as unaffiliated -- about 12% of the adult population overall -- is made up of people who simply describe their religion as "nothing in particular." About half of these people (6.3% of the overall adult population) say that religion is not too important or not at all important in their lives.

The American people continue to be viewed more positively than their country, with majorities in 14 of 23 countries having a favorable opinion of Americans, including at least 70% of those surveyed by Pew in South Korea, Lebanon, Poland and Britain.

In advance of tonight’s vice presidential debate, fewer than four-in-ten (37%) Americans say Sarah Palin is qualified to serve as president if necessary, while a majority (63%) say her opponent, Joe Biden, is qualified for the job.

Fully 52% of the public say it is "absolutely essential" that a political leader be honest and an additional 44% say it is a "very important" quality, making it the most sought after trait in political leaders. Women are more likely than men to say honesty is absolutely essential in a political leader (55% vs. 49%) and it is somewhat more valued by Republicans (59% say it is essential) than by Democrats (50%) or independents (52%).

In a Pew survey, one-in-four middle-class workers said it was at least somewhat likely that at least one of a number of negative events might cause them to lose their job in the coming year.

Fewer than one-in-four Americans think that "women should return to their traditional roles in society." Most Americans (72%) disagree with that statement, a level similar to those recorded in surveys over the past decade.

On the eve of the presidential debates, registered voters give John McCain an 11-point advantage over Barack Obama on making wise decisions about foreign policy, the topic of the first debate.

Nearly half of Americans (46%) are unable to correctly identify Barack Obama as a Christian including 13% who still maintain that he is a Muslim and another 16% who say they have heard different things about his religion.

Half of self-described conservatives now express the view that churches and other houses of worship should stay out of politics; four years ago, only 30% of conservatives expressed this view.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans (63%) favor a government guarantee of universal health insurance, even if it means raising taxes; 34% are opposed.

As has been the case in recent years, people around the world hold mostly negative views of Iran; majorities or pluralities in 20 of the 24 countries surveyed by Pew in 2008 express unfavorable opinions about the largely Shia nation, and opinions are often as negative in other Muslim nations as they are in other parts of the world.

While more Americans rate women ahead of men on matters of public office like working out compromise and keeping government honest, a large gender gap remains in favor of men on dealing with national security and defense issues; 54% rate men as better than women.

In 1990, just one-in-eight public school students were Hispanic, but strong growth in the Hispanic population has led to one-in-five public school students in the nation being Latino students as of 2006.

Men are significantly more likely to claim no religious affiliation than are women; nearly one-in-five men have no formal religious affiliation, almost seven percentage points more than women.

Baby boomers,members of the large generation born from 1946 to 1964, are pessimistic not only about their own finances, but also about everyone else’s; they are more likely than younger or older Americans to believe that it is harder for people to get ahead now than a decade ago (66% says so) as well as harder to make progress, and easier to lose ground, than it was in the past.

U.S. newspaper coverage of international events is declining faster than any other subject, with reporting on international news down to 10.7% of the newshole so far this year A Project for Excellence in Journalism study finds that fully 64% of participating newspaper editors report their papers are giving less space to non-U.S. news, and 46% say they are devoting fewer reporting and editing resources to the subject.

While the public rates women as superior to men on a host of issues associated with leadership, like honesty and intelligence, a mere 6% say women make better leaders than men.

The threat of terrorism remains high among Americans concerns, with 72% of registered voters saying the issue will be "very important" to their vote, but it has been overshadowed somewhat by concerns about the economy and energy; fully 87% of voters now say the economy will be very important to their vote this fall.

John McCain continues to hold a sizable advantage over Barack Obama among white registered voters (51% to 39%), but his advantage is no greater than that held by George Bush over Al Gore in 2000 (52% to 41%) and John Kerry in 2004 (50% to 42%) at similar points in those campaigns.

The number of Americans who have used the internet for campaign news and information so far this year (40%) already exceeds the number who went online for politics during the entire 2004 campaign (34%). Moreover, the proportion of Americans getting political news and information on any given day in the spring of 2008 has more than doubled, compared with a similar period in 2004.

One pattern that differs from previous surveys of political knowledge is that younger voters are significantly more knowledgeable about the candidates’ positions than are older voters; for example, 60% of voters 18-29 correctly say that Obama is pro-choice, compared with just 51% of those ages 50-64 and just 41% of those ages 65 and older.