Among widowed Americans, 80% identify as Christians. That’s almost 20 percentage points higher than the national share of Christian-identifying adults, which is 62%.
This is among findings of the latest Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Study, which found differences in religious identity and expression between five marital statuses: Married, living with a partner, divorced/separated, widowed, and never married.
With only 5% of Americans identifying as widowed, they are the smallest group of the five segments studied. Overall, 51% of American adults are married, 11% are living with a partner, 12% are divorced or separated and 22% never have been married.
While widows are most likely to identify as Christians, married Americans come in second place, with 68% identifying as Christian. A slightly larger share (7%) of married adults identify with other religions, compared to just 4% of widows.
Americans who are living with a partner (but not married to that partner) are most likely to be religiously unaffiliated, with only 45% of that group identifying as Christian and another 45% saying they are religiously unaffiliated.
Never-married Americans have a similar distribution, but with slightly more identifying as Christian (50%) and slightly less as unaffiliated (40%).
Both groups hold the highest share of adults (8%) who identify with other religions.
The share of divorced Americans who say they are Christian is 66%, while 26% say they are religiously unaffiliated and 6% identify with other religions. This roughly aligns with the distribution of married Americans, of whom 24% are religiously unaffiliated.
In terms of spiritual practices like prayer, Scripture reading and participation in prayer groups, widows are consistently more likely than any other marital status group to engage in these things. In contrast, those who are living with a partner they aren’t married to are least likely to engage in spiritual practices.
This trend also was found when survey participants were asked about how often they feel spiritual peace and well-being. Nearly half (49%) of widows say they feel spiritual peace and well-being at least once per week, while 13% say they feel this once to twice per month and 14% several times per year.
In contrast, only 31% of those who are living with a partner say they feel spiritual peace and well-being at least once per week, while 19% feel it once to twice per month and 20% several times per year.
Slightly surpassing those living with a partner, 33% of never-married adults say they feel spiritual peace and well-being at least once per week. Of married adults, 43% feel this at least once per week. Divorced/separated adults fall just one percentage point behind.