Divorce has declined in America. Teen pregnancies are down. The rate of out-of-wedlock births is likely stagnant. But you might never guess that from the views of the most religious people in the United States, because they’re more likely than other Americans to believe that social ills are on the rise.
Research findings from the American Family Survey, now in its fifth year, show that a majority of people in the United States incorrectly suppose that various social changes that they might view negatively are happening more frequently. For example, roughly nine out of 10 Americans believe that divorce is climbing, but that’s not the case: in 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 3.