More Gen Z men are identifying as Christian than their female peers for the first time since research began nearly 30 years ago, according to new Australian data. Source: ABC News.
The Australian Community Survey, operated by NCLS Research, found that 39 per cent of men in Gen Z (aged 28 and under) identified as Christian, compared to 28 per cent of women of the same age group.
“It’s really interesting to see this result, because it’s the first time that we’ve seen males come up as more religious than females,” the head of NCLS research and adjunct associate professor at Charles Sturt University, Ruth Powell, said.
Dr Powell has been researching Australians’ attitudes to spirituality and religion for more than three decades.
Despite seeing higher numbers of personal identification with religion, young women still identify as “spiritual” at a rate higher than their male peers, and church attendance is roughly the same between the genders.
Overall, across all age groups, 60 per cent of churchgoers are women and 40 per cent are men.
But the gap between the genders is widest on the question of whether Christianity is good for society: about one third of Gen Z men (37 per cent) either agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement, compared to just 17 per cent of Gen Z women.
“Gen Z women are more likely to count the cost of being part of a religious organisation than a Gen Z male, whereas a Gen Z male is more likely to see benefits in organisational alignment or loyalty,” Dr Powell said.
“That’s about belonging and worth and identity.”
Conversely, Dr Powell said many young women were questioning what established religions stood for.
“I believe what they’re saying is, ‘you have had power, you have power, you have abused power, and we reject that’,” she said.
FULL STORY
Why more Australian Gen Z men are finding meaning in organised religion (By Shalailah Medhora, ABC News)
