There’s a 29-point gap between Americans 65 and older who identify as religious and the share of young adults ages 18 to 29 who identify as religious.
This is among the findings of the latest Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Study, which found 83% of Americans 65 and older identify as religious, while only 54% of young adults ages 18 to 29 do.
Put another way, 78% of older adults identify as Christians, while only 45% of young adults do. A slightly larger share of young adults identifies with other religious groups — 9% compared to just 5% of older adults. And nearly half of all young adults are religiously unaffiliated, while only 15% of older adults are.
Even though some national research shows increased church attendance by young men, that does not shift the reality that young adults in America remain far less likely than their elders to identify as religious or as Christian.
The Pew study found the total American population overall to have become less religious over the past few decades. But researchers discovered the comparative difference between generational religiosity has remained consistent. This shows a correlation between one’s generation and their likelihood of being religious, but not a correlation between aging itself and religiosity.
Older Americans also are more likely to engage in spiritual practices like prayer or Scripture reading than younger generations. Notably, however, no generation shows a high interest in attending prayer groups, Scripture studies or religious education groups. Only 31% of older adults reported participating in these social groups with some frequency.
The study’s general findings that more Americans are comfortable identifying as “spiritual” rather than “religious” also follows the generational trend — the share of both “religious” and “spiritual” folks increases by generation.
One disruption to that trend: An overwhelming tendency to believe “people have a soul or spirit in addition to their physical body” is consistent among all age groups. No less than 82% of Americans in any of the generations report holding this belief. And for Americans age 50 to 64, this caps at 90%.
Education
Education levels are correlated with a slightly different pattern of religiosity.
According to the survey, there are fewer Christians who have attained higher levels of education. Among American adults who have a high school education or less, 66% are Christians, while only 56% of Americans with postgraduate degrees are.
However, as education level rises, so does the share of individuals who identify with other religions. And the share of religiously unaffiliated adults remains somewhat steady regardless of education. This means religiosity does not necessarily clash with educational experience even though higher education levels correlate to a lower likelihood of being a Christian.
Although higher levels of education may be affiliated with lower rates of Christianity, education does relate with more consistent levels of religious attendance among those who do identify with any religion. Highly educated adults are the most likely to attend religious services weekly, while those who only completed some college studies are least likely.
On the other hand, less educated Americans pray most often; 50% report they pray at least daily, while 39% of postgraduates report daily prayer.
Regular Scripture reading is not common among any education group, and highly educated Americans are 2% less likely to read Scripture once or more per week than those with a high school diploma or less. Less than half of all education groups report ever reading Scripture.
Income
Income seems to have little relation to how religious a person is. Each income group included a similar share of religious adults.
Among Americans with incomes of $30,000 or less per year, 69% said they are religious (63% Christian and 6% other religious identities) compared to 66% of those who make $100,000 or more (57% Christian and 9% other).
Overall, slightly more adults in the lowest income category participate in prayer, Scripture study or religious education groups.
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