The Gender Gap In Religious Services

The gender gap in attendance at religious services has been narrowing as the rate of the number of women attending church declines faster than the number of men, according to a new study.

Between 1972 and 1974, approximately 36 percent of women and 26 percent of men reported weekly attendance to religious services, revealing a 10-point gap, according to an analysis by the Pew Research center of the General Social Survey (GSS). The gap widened to 13 points in the mid-1980s, after which it began to shrink in the coming decade through the 90s.

Through the late 1980s and 1990s, the overall weekly attendance at church services declined in the United States.. However, the rate of decline was faster among women. By 2012, 28 percent of women and 22 percent of men reported attending church services weekly,

One theory he poses is increased participation of women in the labor force, as scholars have found that women in the labor force attend church services less often that their counterparts who are not a part of the labor force. However, McClendon notes that “the fastest increase in women’s full-time employment during this period occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s, during which time the gender gap on religious service attendance actually widened somewhat.” He also mentions that worship attendance declined for women who were both inside and outside the labor force.

Another possible explanation McClendon suggests is the higher rates of educational achievement among women. However, he notes that “college-educated and less-educated women attended religious services at similar rates and both experienced declines in recent decades.”

Finally, he points out the growth of the “nones,” or those who claim to be religiously unaffiliated, a category which reveals a more rapid growth rate for women than for