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10 Findings about the Religious Lives of Teens & their Parents |
Parents have a lot of influence over their teenagers – including when it comes to religion. But while teens in the United States take after their parents religiously in many ways, they stand out in some others, according to a new Pew Research Center report.
The report looks at U.S. teens’ religious lives and the ways these reflect – or don’t reflect - the religious lives of their parents. It is based on a survey of 1,811 pairs of teens ages 13 to 17 and their parents, with one teen and one parent from each household. Each person answered questions not only about their own religious affiliation, beliefs and practices, but also about the role they think religion plays in the life of the other person taking the survey.
Here are 10 key findings from the report.
Go to the Pew Research Center for the complete report: https://www.pewforum.org/2020/09/10/u-s-teens-take-after-their-parents-religiously-attend-services-together-and-enjoy-family-rituals.
The report looks at U.S. teens’ religious lives and the ways these reflect – or don’t reflect - the religious lives of their parents. It is based on a survey of 1,811 pairs of teens ages 13 to 17 and their parents, with one teen and one parent from each household. Each person answered questions not only about their own religious affiliation, beliefs and practices, but also about the role they think religion plays in the life of the other person taking the survey.
Here are 10 key findings from the report.
- Most teens share the religion of their parents or legal guardians.
- Approximately half of teens (48%) say they have “all the same” religious beliefs as their parent.
- Teens are just as likely as their parents to say they regularly go to religious services, but when it comes to more personal forms of religious expression, teens appear less religious than their parents.
- Most teens report attending religious services with either both (40%) or one (25%) of their parents.
- Teens are about as likely to say they go to religious services mainly because their parents want them to (38%) as to say they go mainly because they themselves want to go (35%).
- Religious education is relatively common.
- By some measures, teens whose parents identify with or lean toward the Republican Party seem to be more religiously engaged than those whose parents are Democratic or lean to the Democratic Party.
- Evangelical Protestant teens are more religious than other teens by traditional measures, and also are more likely to say they at least sometimes engage in religious education or religious youth groups.
- Teenagers tend to be open to the possibility that there may be truth in multiple faiths and that people can be moral without believing in God.
- Many U.S. teens report having religious or spiritual experiences at least once or twice a month
Go to the Pew Research Center for the complete report: https://www.pewforum.org/2020/09/10/u-s-teens-take-after-their-parents-religiously-attend-services-together-and-enjoy-family-rituals.
