10 Groundbreaking Statistics From 2013

Say what you will about this past year, but 2013 was an important year for the United States. From government decisions, to current events, to cultural shifts, public opinion polls showed time and again that the times they are a (continuing to) change. The Pew Research Center decided to highlight some of the year's most important and groundbreaking trends based on their own polling. Check out 10 of the most interesting findings below.

1. The majority of Americans support same-sex marriage.

A landmark 51 percent of the public now favors same-sex marriage, with only 42 percent opposed. In 2004, 42 percent of Americans believed same-sex marriage should be legal.

2. Most people want to "legalize it."

When it comes to bud, 52 percent now favor legalizing the use of marijuana. Support for legalizing marijuana has even risen 11 points since 2010, just three years ago.

3. More people hate Congress than they have in nearly 20 years.

A staggering 38 percent of Americans don't want their own representative in Congress reelected — the highest percentage in two decades. Compared to the 29 percent of people who didn't want to reelect Congress in 2010, and 25 percent in 2006, that's quite a tailspin.

4. Lots (and I mean, lots) of millennials live at home with their parents.

A record 36 percent of millennials aged 18 to 30 live at home with their parents, the highest number in at least four decades. That's a four percent jump from 2007 when 32 percent of millennials lived at home with their parents.

5. Women are becoming "breadwinners."

Mothers are now either the sole or primary source of income for their families in 40 percent of households. Back in 1960, only 11 percent of women contributed to the majority of their families' earnings.

6. Latino college students are starting to outnumber white majority.

Sixty-nine percent of Latino high school students who graduated in 2012 enrolled in college the following fall — a rate two percentage points higher than white counterparts. In 2000, 49 percent of Latino high school students were enrolling in college immediately after high school.

7. Most Catholics don't feel as passionately about their religion anymore.

The number of American Catholics who identify as “strong” Catholics is at a four-decade low. In 1974, 46 percent of Americans identified as "strong" Catholics, but in 2012 only 27 percent of people said they would call themselves by this same name.

8. Everyone (well, almost everyone) owns a smartphone.

Most Americans now own a smartphone of some kind. In May 2011, 35 percent of people reported owning a smartphone. The number jumped to 56 percent in 2013.

9. Most people get their news online.

Fifty percent of the American public now says the internet is their main source for both national and international news, compared to 43 percent in 2011 and 13 percent in 2001. All hail the interwebs!

10. Americans want America to mind its own business when it comes to global issues.

The majority of Americans think that the United States should mind its own business internationally and let other countries solve their own problems, which is the highest number in almost half century of polling. Fifty-two percent of people reported feeling this way in 2013, compared to only 30 percent in 2002.

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