Reuters reports on new research that indicates that younger Americans, between the ages of 36 to 50, are more likely to be loyal to religion than Baby Boomers.
In a study published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Philip Schwadel, of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said this was true even though they were less likely than previous generations to have been brought up with a religion.
He said the trend “is good news for those who worry about declining religious adherence.”
Schwadel attributed the younger generation’s overall loyalty to religion to a less staid and more innovative religious scene in America today, while religion in the past was more conservative, less diverse and stricter….
…Schwadel’s findings are based the General Social Survey (GSS) of more than 37,000 people from 1973 to 2006, which monitors change and the growing complexity of American society.
He found that the percentage of Americans without a religious affiliation doubled in the 1990s and has continued to increase in the first decade of this century.
Non-affiliation with any religion grew from 6 to 8 percent in the 1970s and 1980s to almost 16 percent in 2006….
…”The Boomers’ enmity toward organized religion is still evident in the relatively large proportion of their children and grandchildren who are raised with no religious affiliation,” he added.