Men Are Losing Their Religion. NewsWire

NewsWire: 5/28/22

• According to a new survey, women are more likely to hold religious beliefs than men. But that gender gap significantly narrows at younger ages--and runs against the gender gap in partisan affiliation. (Survey Center on American Life)
  
• NH: Women are more likely than men to hold religious beliefs. 55% of women say they have no doubt God exists, compared to only 46% of men. And 29% of women go to church weekly, while only 23% of men do the same. 
• This gender gap increases steeply by age. Over age 65, 63% of women believe in God with no doubts, compared to only 53% of men. And 71% of senior women think about God daily, while only 55% of senior men say the same thing.
• But these differences almost disappear among young adults. 18- to 29-year-old men and women both equally believe in God with certainty (40% vs. 39%) and think about God daily (48%). They are also equally likely to never attend church (33% vs. 31%). 
• This religion gender gap runs contrary to the partisan gender gap: Women are more likely than men to vote for Democrats, despite the fact that Republicans are much more likely to say they hold religious beliefs and go to church. The same dynamic holds for minority voters. Again, they are more religious but are more likely to identify with Democrats. Or, to put this paradox a bit differently, white men are both the most likely to vote Republican--and the least likely to believe in God.

Did You Know?

• Pandemic? What Pandemic? Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the rise, but according to Gallup, 34% of Americans say that the pandemic is over. This is the highest share since June 2021 (29%), when people were polled following the initial vaccine rollout. However, as has been the case with basically every pandemic-related question, views differ sharply by partisanship. Republicans are much more likely (67%) than Democrats (10%) to say that the pandemic is over. Middle-aged Americans (41%) are also more likely than those under 30 (30%) or the 65+ (30%) to believe this--presumably, because even Republican seniors worry about their health. At the same time, a much lower share of Americans (just 21%) believe that their lives have completely returned normal. Another 27% think their normal lives will resume in the future (most of these say “sometime next year”). And fully 50% believes their lives will "never" return to normal.