An overwhelming majority of Americans prioritize family over other personal needs in their lives.
Key Details
- Americans are increasingly focusing on family when prioritizing their personal desires, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.
- Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults reported that spending time with family was one of the most important things to them, regardless of how much time they actually spent with their family.
- When combined with respondents who listed family as very or somewhat important, 99% of survey respondents agreed that this was the most important priority in their lives.
Why it’s news
No other category ranked as highly in Pew’s study. Survey respondents ranked being physically active, being outdoors, and experiencing nature as the next highest categories. However, none ranked higher than family.
Survey respondents were more divided when considering the importance of religious faith. Half consider it very important, while around 21% list it as somewhat important. Nearly 28% say it is not important.
Smaller groups considered art, music, and writing the most important thing to them. About 40% listed community involvement as the most important, and 27% said political causes were a priority. Around 28% say that politics is not at all important to them.
The age of survey respondents had some effect on where their priorities were. Large portions of every age group highly ranked family time, physical activity, and spending time outdoors as priorities.
However, older adults were less likely to list their careers as a high priority in their life. Those over 65 were even less likely to prioritize jobs. Around 76% of those surveyed listed the success of their careers as very important to them.
Respondents over 65 were also less likely to prioritize creative activities, like writing and art. These older adults were also more likely to rank religious faith as very important to them. Nearly 60% of those over 65 ranked religion as the most important thing to them. Another 56% of those aged 50 to 64 prioritized religion, and just under half of those aged 30 to 49. Around 37% of those 18 to 29 felt the same.