It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world.

It is a subsidiary of the Pew Charitable Trusts[5][6] and a charter member of the American Association of Public Opinion Research's Transparency Initiative.

[7] In 1990, the Times Mirror Company founded the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press as a research project, tasked with conducting polls on politics and policy.

[10] In October 2014, Michael Dimock, a 14-year veteran of the center at the time of his selection, was named president.

[6][12] For its studies focusing on demographics of religions in the world, the Pew Research Center has been jointly funded by the Templeton Foundation.