While support for gay marriage is on the rise nationwide, there are wide regional differences in the level of support, which is strongest in New England and weakest in the South.

In 2012, for the first time ever, one-third of the nation's 25 to 29-year-olds have completed at least a bachelor's degree. College completion is also now at record levels among key demographic groups.

Compared with 2011, more Latinos express satisfaction with the direction of the country, report that their finances are in "excellent" or "good" shape and expect their family's finances to improve in the next 12 months.

Despite a slowly improving economy, about four-in-ten adults (38%) say they are not confident that they will have enough income and assets for their retirement, up from 25% at the end of the Great Recession in 2009.

Student debt has increased in nearly every demographic and economic category since 2007, as has the size of that debt. The burden of student debt is greatest for the young and the poor.

The percentage of Americans who say they are in the lower-middle or lower class has risen from a quarter of the adult population to about a third in the past four years, according to a national survey of 2,508 adults by the Pew Research Center.

Americans believe that having a secure job is by far the most important requirement for being in the middle class, easily trumping homeownership and a college education, according to a new nationwide Pew Research Center survey of 2,508 adults.

As Republicans gather for their national convention in Tampa to nominate a presidential candidate known, in part, as a wealthy businessman, a new nationwide Pew Research Center survey finds that many Americans believe the rich are different than other people.

As the 2012 presidential candidates prepare their closing arguments to America’s middle class, they are courting a group that has endured a lost decade for economic well-being. Since 2000, the middle class has shrunk in size, fallen backward in income and wealth, and shed some – but by no means all – of its characteristic faith in the future.

At the nation's four-year colleges and universities, Hispanics have reached a new milestone and are now the largest minority group, reaching a record 16.5% of the total college student enrollment. One-in-four public elementary school students are Hispanic.

The newly elected, 113th Congress includes the first Buddhist to serve in the Senate, the first Hindu and the first member of Congress to describe her religion as "none," continuing a gradual increase in religious diversity that mirrors the country as a whole.

Just as the presidential race is deadlocked, the candidates are running about even when it comes to the ground game. Voters report being contacted at about the same rates by each campaign. And neither candidate has a clear advantage among early voters.

As the presidential campaign enters its final week, the race is even among likely voters: 47% favor Barack Obama and the same percentage supports Mitt Romney. While Romney holds a turnout advantage, Obama leads on many personal characteristics and issues.

Three-quarters of Latino Catholics and eight-in-ten religiously unaffiliated Latinos support President Barack Obama's re-election, while just 50% of Latino evangelical Protestants prefer Obama and 39% support Mitt Romney.

Catholics are often identified as a major "swing" voting group in American politics. A new analysis shows that the only group of Catholics that has been divided in recent elections is white Catholics who identify as political moderates.

In the last five years, the unaffiliated have increased from 15% to 20% of all U.S. adults. Their ranks now include more than 13 million self-described atheists and agnostics, as well as nearly 33 million people who say they have no particular religious affiliation.

Three-quarters of the world's approximately 7 billion people now live in countries with high government restrictions on religion or high social hostilities involving religion, up from 70% a year earlier.

A new slideshow illustrates trends in support for the U.S. political parties among various religious groups since 2008.

Part of a series of profiles of the 2012 presidential candidates and their religious beliefs.

A new survey of Muslims conducted in 39 countries sheds new light on beliefs and practices across the globe.