Gen z Men Are More Religious Than Their Women Counterparts
Something extraordinary is happening. For the first time in American history, men are more religious than women, at least in Generation Z. Although generations are somewhat fluid, the Pew Research Organization categorizes Gen Z as ages 12-27.
As a point of comparison, those of the baby boomer generation who left their childhood religion show that men disaffiliated themselves from religion at a rate of 14% higher than their female counterparts. The gap began to close in each successive generation (Gen X, Millennials) until women in the Gen Z group disassociated themselves from religion by 8% points more than males.
The statistics show that four out of ten Gen Z women have no religious affiliation, a 14% increase from the previous Gen X group. The men seem to be going in a different direction. The amount of defection from Gen Z regarding religious affiliation has decreased by 3% from the previous Gen X.
The trend is noteworthy: men are becoming more religious, and women are becoming less. To ignore the fact that abortion plays a significant role in this reversal is to be unwilling to face the sad fact that Christians are in favor of abortion more than they ever have been. Outside of the Evangelicals, those who believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases are on the rise. Mainline Protestants in favor (64%); Black Protestants in favor (71%); Catholics in favor (59%).
Young women have been repeatedly told abortion is their right and part of their healthcare. They have heard this gaslighting from educators, the government, and their parents. Inherent in this message is reinforcing an agenda hostile to motherhood and family. The attack on the unborn and the alleged emancipation of women from being subjected to unwanted pregnancies competing with the opposite religious belief causes a cognizant dissonance. Both positions cannot live harmoniously. Either you pick the pro-choice position, or you stay true to the religious faith and the sanctity of life.
The effect of the abortion culture extends to positions about marriage and raising a family. Pew Research published a surprising result about the attitudes between men and women about children. The study concluded childless young men say they want to be parents someday at a 12% higher rate than childless young women. Having children and promoting a strong family have always been the mainstays of religious pedagogy, something Gen Z women do not seem to share.
Another factor that may affect young women is the LGBTQ revolution. It is estimated that nearly three in ten women under the age of 30 now identify themselves as something other than heterosexual. The same study estimated that 60% of young women who left their childhood religion cited their perception of religion as unfavorable to gay and lesbian people as vital to them leaving.
In the 1950’s, Archbishop Fulton Sheen prophesied women’s importance and virtue as a societal stabilizing influence. His words would be ridiculed today. Nonetheless, they still ring true. He wrote, “When a man loves a woman, he has to become worthy of her. The higher her virtue, the more noble her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, and goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her. The history of civilization could actually be written in terms of the level of its women.”
Women are the backbone of society because they have the potential to bear the next generation. Separating this noble vocation from religious belief can only result in an impoverished civilization, which is what we are experiencing now.