Divorce makes children less religious, researchers say
Published: 1/23/2013 1:25 PM
Last Modified: 1/23/2013 1:26 PM
If their parents stay married, kids are twice as likely to go to church regularly when they grow up, according to a report Wednesday from the Institute for American Values.
Or to put it the other way around: Kids with divorced parents are only half as likely to go church when they grow up.
But the question, of course, is the old chicken and egg dilemma. Does getting divorced make a family less religious, or does being less religious make a family more likely to go through divorce?
Kids tend to grow up to be a lot like their parents, as that’s as true with religion as with anything else. Divorced families are half as likely to go to church as married parents, and children carry those habits into adulthood.
Two out of three married fathers encourage their children to attend church, even after they grow up, while only one of three divorced fathers encourage it, the study says.
For more details, read the full 77-page report HERE.
Or for a summary, go HERE.
Written by
Michael Overall
Staff Writer
