Religion is the family’s strongest ally. That’s the bottom line of a new report that I authored for Sutherland Institute this week. This means governments would be wise to protect the religious freedom of parents and professionals who are working to shore up family life.
The backdrop for this publication is recent news on both positive and concerning trends in family life. The best family-related news is that divorce rates have fallen. Children are also more likely to be raised by mothers who have graduated from college. On the other hand, marriage rates have declined and fewer children are being born, signaling a significant demographic transition to aging societies in which social services are likely to be strained.
The report describes research on the impact of religious practice on decisions to marry and have children, the strength and quality of marriage and parent-child relationships, and the risk of divorce.
For instance, those who attend church more frequently are more likely to be married. They are also more likely to have children and to want to have children. This effect seems to be growing stronger.
Religious people tend to adopt practices that prepare them for marriage. When they are married, church attendance is associated with husbands doing more work in the home, providing more childcare. An international study found “[h]ighly religious couples enjoy higher-quality relationships.” Other research suggests they experience greater happiness in marriage, and are more likely to make decisions together. They are more likely to be faithful to one another.
Parents who attend church often promote positive outcomes for their children. Religious fathers tend to be more involved with their children, and religiously involved mothers report higher quality parent-child relationships. Religious communities promote positive parenting attitudes and provide social support to parents. Religious practice is associated with warm and authoritative parent-child relationships marked by dedicated commitments of time.
Religious attendance is also associated with a significantly lower risk of divorce.
These outcomes benefit not only religious people, but their communities as well. Healthy marriages and families provide encouragement and examples to others, and all benefit from living among the well-adjusted children and family members produced by families forged in faith.
In 1796, President George Washington wrote that it would be hard to capture all the social and individual benefits of religion. He thought these benefits should be respected not just by “the pious man” but even by public officials. One need not share the specific beliefs of people of faith to appreciate all that those beliefs contribute not only to those who hold them but to their communities, including the families that make up those communities.
This is one reason why it is essential for policymakers to provide space, through accommodations of religious practice, for parents, spouses, and those who work to strengthen families to act consistently with their beliefs.
