Stats and Demographics

• U.S. Religious Landscape Survey 
  According to a new study, by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, on the religious affiliation of U.S. adults, 28 percent of Americans have either changed religious affiliations or claim no formal religion at all. The study also shows the Catholic Church has been hardest hit by these shifts, but that the influx of Catholic immigrants has offset the loss.
• English Usage among Hispanics in the United States 
  Nearly all Hispanic adults born in the United States of immigrant parents report they are fluent in English.
• E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century 
  The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture. Ethnic diversity is increasing in most advanced countries, driven mostly by sharp increases in immigration. In the long run immigration and diversity are likely to have important cultural, economic, fiscal, and developmental benefits. In the short run, however, immigration and ethnic diversity tend to reduce social solidarity and social capital. New evidence from the US suggests that in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods residents of all races tend to ‘hunker down’. Trust (even of one’s own race) is lower, altruism and community cooperation rarer, friends fewer. In the long run, however, successful immigrant societies have overcome such fragmentation by creating new, cross-cutting forms of social solidarity and more encompassing identities. Illustra- tions of becoming comfortable with diversity are drawn from the US military, religious institutions, and earlier waves of American immigration.
• Religion in Society and Culture (RISC) surveys 
• TRENDS IN U.S. IMMIGRATION 1992–2004
  RISE, PEAK, AND DECLINE: TRENDS IN U.S. IMMIGRATION 1992–2004. From the Pew Hispanic Center . Released September 27,2005
• The New Latino South: Context and Consequences of Rapid Population Growth 
  This report, by the Pew Hispanic Center , looks at the demographic characteristics of the new settlement areas of the South, examining the economic factors that have led to the increase in Hispanic migration to the area and some of the policy implications for the region and the entire country. 2005
• Catholic Information Project 
  From the USCCB Office of Communication. 2003
• Hispanic Churches in American Public Life 
  Latino Religion in the U.S.: Demographic Shifts and Trends. Click here for more information
• Hispanic Perspectives 2004 
  Survey found at the National Council of La Raza . Here is the press release.
• The 2004 National Survey of Latinos: Politics and Civic Participation 
  In collaboration with the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Pew Hispanic Center has produced a package of materials exploring the Latino role in American politics.
• Hispanic Heritage month (Sept 15-Oct 15) 2007 
  From the US Census Bureau
• 2002 National Survey of Latinos 
  From the Pew Hispanic Center