MILWAUKEE — A new Marquette Law School Poll is examining how American’s trust, religion and family experiences differ across generations as the country celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Speaking on WTMJ’s Wisconsin’s Midday News, poll director Charles Franklin said younger Americans remain less trusting than older generations, and he said the trend appears to reflect a broader generational change rather than a temporary life-stage shift.
Marquette’s poll release found adults born before 1960 were the most likely to say most people can be trusted, while adults born in the 2000s were the least likely to say the same.
Franklin also discussed the findings related to religion, saying the growth in adults who identify as religiously unaffiliated appears to have flattened in recent years, even as church attendance remains lower among younger adults.
“Maybe that’s the complication of modern society… but it does raise some important questions about how strong that attachment is to religion,” Franklin said.
Marquette Law School has described the latest survey as part of a four-part national release examining American life around the country’s 250th anniversary.
