Survey: What does it take to be American?

From Pew surveys in 2016:

It is important to be born in this country? In the U.S., people ages 50 and older (40%) are more likely than those ages 35 to 49 (31%) and 18 to 34 (21%) to say it is very important that a person be born in the country to be considered truly American. The comparable percentages for Canada are 28%, 17%, and 13%; Australia, 19%, 13%, 4%.

Americans overall are roughly similar to Europeans, Canadians and Australians in saying the speaking the national language is very important (U.S.: 70%). Among Americans, 84% of white evangelical Protestants say yes, but only 59% of college grads (and 58% of 18 – 34 year olds) say it is very important. Half of American immigrants are proficient in English.

Where the U.S. sharply differs is whether being a Christian is very important. For Americans, 32% say yes. For Europe, Canada and Australia, about 15% do.

Republicans differ from Democrats in importance of speaking English (83% to 61%), sharing American customs and traditions (60% to 38%), being a Christian (43% to 29%), and being born in the U.S. (35% to 32%).

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