RELIGOUS NEWS >>> Losing Their Religion: Younger Adults are Less Religious, and Not Only in the US

Canada leads all countries with a 28 percentage-point difference between younger and older people on the question of whether they affiliate with a particular religion. Denmark, South Korea, Australia and Norway follow. In the United States, younger adults aged 18 to 39 years are 17 percent less likely to claim a religion than adults aged 40 and over.

The study, which examined three additional measures of religiosity in addition to religious affiliation — the importance of religion to people’s lives, daily prayer and weekly worship attendance — found some surprises.

While it is generally true that in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and Latin America the gap in religiosity between young and old is narrower, it’s not true for every measure. In Lebanon, when younger and older adults were asked if religion was “very important” in their lives, there was a 20 percentage-point difference; in Iran it was 9 points and in Nigeria 6 points.

The survey offered a number of intriguing theories, besides economic well-being, for why young people so often lag in religion.

Education also plays a role. Rising educational opportunities usually — but not always — are associated with lower levels of religious adherence....

https://religionnews.com/2018/06/13/losing-their-religion-younger-adults-are-less-religious-and-not-only-in-the-us/