Americans' belief in God hits new low: poll

Religion has long been ubiquitous in the United States, but a new Gallup poll shows belief in God is declining, especially among the younger generation.

Those who identify as left-wing show the sharpest decline, while for married conservatives, there has been essentially no change since the poll was last taken.

On Friday, Gallup released the results of the poll, which showed that 81 percent of Americans believe in God, down 6 percent since 2017, and the lowest result since the question was first asked in 1944.

Belief in God is relatively similar across race and gender, however there are marked differences when it comes to age, political ideology, and party affiliation.

Only 68 percent of people 18-29 said they believed in god, compared with 88 percent of those 50-64, and 87 percent of the 65+ crowd.

An overwhelming 92 percent of Republicans believe in a higher power, whereas that number drops to 72 percent for Democrats, and only 62 percent for self-described liberals.

The poll also found that nearly three-quarters of Americans who attend religious services every week say god can at least hear prayers, with nearly half going as far as claiming that a higher power can "intervene" in peoples' lives.

The data was collected by Gallup between May 2 and 22 as part of the Values and Beliefs poll.

The results are in line with other polls conducted by Gallup, which show a decrease in church attendance, and confidence in organized religion.

While many religious denominations are shrinking in membership, the "nones," those who have no religious affiliation, have been the fastest growing sector of the American population.

According to Pew Research, nearly 30 percent of Americans identify as "nones." This does not mean they are all atheists, however. Some may still believe in a higher power, but choose not to be involved with a particular religion.