Are young men now “more religious” than young women?

A recent trend seems to be going against the stereotypical view that men are far less interested in religion than women.

“For the first time in modern American history, young men are now more religious than their female peers. They attend services more often and are more likely to identify as religious,” New York Times religion writer Ruth Graham reported recently.

Graham focused on evangelical churches in Texas, where young men clearly outnumbered young women. But the trend seems to be relevant to members of "Generation Z" across the board -- people born between 1997 and 2012.

“This trend has been on the radar for a while now, leaving students of contemporary religion grappling to figure out the historic shift: more men than women in the pews is a curious thing indeed,” said Darren Dochuk, professor of history and co-director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame. “When teaching US religious history, an ongoing organizing theme is the ‘feminization of Christianity’ and the Church; for centuries, organized religion in this country has leaned heavily on the dedication and hard work of women. So this recent finding is quite jarring.”

Why the turn among Gen Z devout in particular?

“Various answers have been offered, all making a bit of sense,” Dochuk told Aleteia. “The politics of it certainly resonates, as recent hot-button ‘culture war’ issues do connect differently with men than with women. With increased focus placed on ‘traditional’ family values, encompassing reproduction, gender roles, and sexuality, young women in the Church can feel more embattled than young men, encouraging many to seek alternative outlets for their spiritual practice (or to leave organized religion altogether). 

“At the same time, the reaffirmation in politics and segments of Christianity of traditional (patriarchal) authority in the home has empowered and emboldened young men, and made them more curious about what the Church has to offer,” Dochuk continued.

But William Dinges, Professor Emeritus of Religion and Culture in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America, sees the news in a different light.

“The real issue here by way of long term significance is not ‘young Christian men’ becoming more religious; it's young Christian women becoming less so – including Catholics ones,” Dinges told Aleteia. “This is important because women in general have played the primary role in the religious socialization of children. In this regard, ponder the potential long-term institutional consequences of an alienated female constituency."

Last year, the Survey Center on American Life at the American Enterprise Institute found that within Generation Z, almost 40% of women describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated, compared with 34% of men.

It found that about two-thirds of women ages 18 to 29 say that “most churches and religious congregations” do not treat men and women equally. 

Dinges opined that the “Catholic version” of the male "more religious" phenomenon “would relate, in part, to the growth of more conservative/traditionalist/'rad trad' constituencies enamored by the Latin Tridentine Mass, home schooling, large families etc. -- and more conventional patriarchal roles.”

Mark M. Gray, a Research Associate Professor at Georgetown University and the Director of Catholic Polls at Georgetown’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), cited data from the latest publication of the General Social Survey, which is from 2022: for people aged 18-24, about a third (33.1%) of men do not have a religious affiliation compared to 40.9% of women.

But the numbers surveyed were relatively small, Gray cautioned, and had margins of sampling error that “make it difficult to discern whether this is a real difference in the population,” he cautioned.

“It is just a glimpse consistent with” the findings that The Times’ Ruth Graham reported. 

CARA’s executive director, Fr. Thomas P. Gaunt, S.J., commented, “This is something new. Only time will tell if it is a ‘blip’ or a trend.”