Young women grow less religious than young men
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There's a growing religious divide among younger Americans: Gen Z women of almost all faiths are more likely to be "religiously unaffiliated" than Gen Z men, an Axios review of polling data found.
Why it matters: While the overall trend of each generation being less religiously observant than their elders is decades old, the gender split is new.
- The exodus of young women can be seen in particular in white evangelical congregations, which are becoming smaller and more male.
- The faith divide also reflects a political divide: polls show young women moving left much faster than young men.
By the numbers: A survey by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found that 39% of Gen Z women identify as religiously unaffiliated, compared with 31% of Gen Z men.
- Only 8% of Gen Z women identify as white evangelicals, compared with 13% of Gen Z men.
- Just 6% of Gen Z women say they're Black Protestants, compared with 8% of Gen Z men — a surprising stat given how Black women across generations have been the drivers of the Black church.
- The proportions of young people identifying as Catholic, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Muslim are also declining but by similar rates for men and women.
State of play: Gen Z — which includes those born between 1997 and 2012 — is the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in U.S. history.
- An estimated 40.8 million Gen Zers will be eligible to vote in the November general election, one-sixth of all qualified voters. Various studies show them to be the most left-leaning generation that will be taking part.
- Gen Z also appears to be more politically engaged than previous rising generations, and that's particularly true of Gen Z women, PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman tells Axios.
Between the lines: Democrats are more religiously diverse, while Republicans are more white and Christian, the PRRI survey found.
- The falling participation rates of young women in white evangelical churches is a warning sign for the GOP, says Deckman, author of the recent book, "The Politics of Gen Z."
- "One of the biggest factors of Gen Z women leaving is the treatment of LGBTQ individuals," Deckman says.
- Gen Z women, who grew up in the #MeToo era, also are discouraged by sex abuse scandals in the evangelical and Catholic churches and the lack of leadership roles for women, Deckman says.
The intrigue: Some experts think churches need to change their structures or even theology to retain more young women, or else face extinction.
- "For the whole lifetime of Gen Z, the dominant form of Christianity has been the era of conservative evangelical dominance," Rev. Brian Kaylor, editor-in-chief of the historic Baptist journal "Word&Way" tells Axios.
- Gen Z women identify Christianity with evangelicalism, most denominations of which are politically conservative and don't allow women to become pastors or church leaders, he notes.
- Gen Z women aren't putting up with that, Kaylor says.
