An increasing number of young men in the United States say religion is “very important” in their lives, edging them ahead of young women on the issue, according to Gallup. Source: Catholic Review.
In addition, Gallup noted that attendance at religious services has risen by several points since 2022-2023 among young Republican men and women.
The data comes as previous polling from Pew Research Centre showed a levelling off in a multiyear decline in Christianity in the US, although Pew noted there’s no statistical evidence of a religious revival, and Catholics are seeing the greatest net losses of believers compared to other religions.
Gallup released its findings on April 16, based on data collected as part of its Gallup Poll Social Series, which, since 2001, has surveyed respondents monthly on a slate of issues to identify multi-year trends.
Each survey polls at least 1000 US adults in all 50 states and Washington. The data is weighted, or statistically adjusted, to represent the nation’s demographics.
Gallup found that combined data for 2024-2025 showed 42 per cent of men ages 18-29 ranked religion as “very important,” compared to 29 per cent of their female counterparts.
The numbers reversed a 16-point gap between the two cohorts in 2002-2003, when 57 per cent of women ages 18-29 reported religion as “very important” compared to 41 per cent of their male counterparts.
Gallup noted that the gap had steadily closed by the mid-2010s, with the two groups “closely aligned through 2022-2023”.
But the data from 2024 and 2025 “mark a clear break, with young men now surpassing young women on this measure of religious importance,” said Gallup senior scientist Frank Newport and director of US social research Lydia Saad in their report.
They observed that the reversal is “unique” to the specific age bracket, with women age 30 and older remaining “more religious than men.”
Young women “are now by far the least religious women,” they said, with less than one third (29 per cent) describing religion as very important – far behind the 47 per cent of women ages 30-49 who rank religion as a priority.
FULL STORY
Gallup: Young men are an ’emerging exception’ among ‘low ebb’ of religiosity in US (By Gina Christian, OSV News via Catholic Review)
