Millennials Do Not Go To Church So Much

A Pew Research Center survey, In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace, reveals a drop in church attendance by Americans generally and a sharper drop by people 23 to 38 years old. In 2019, about two-thirds of millennials attended services “a few times a year” or less. About 4 in 10 seldom or never go. Ten years ago, it was more than half and only 3 in 10, respectively.

Pew comments:

Both Protestantism and Catholicism are experiencing losses of population share. Currently, 43% of U.S. adults identify with Protestantism, down from 51% in 2009. And one-in-five adults (20%) are Catholic, down from 23% in 2009. Meanwhile, all subsets of the religiously unaffiliated population – a group also known as religious “nones” – have seen their numbers swell.

The Pew results are mirrored by survey data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, also showing  a drop-off in church attendance among millennials.

Wikipedia comments on the size of the millennial population, which is large:

Millennial population size varies, depending on the definition used. In 2014, using dates ranging from 1982 to 2004, Neil Howe revised the number to over 95 million people in the U.S. In a 2012 Time magazine article, it was estimated that there were approximately 80 million U.S. millennials. The United States Census Bureau, using birth dates ranging from 1982 to 2000, stated the estimated number of U.S. millennials in 2015 was 83.1 million people.

Pew survey data indicates the the millennial population will exceed Boomers in 2019.