Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/35491 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 4279
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper critically reviews what is known, based on analyses of micro-level U.S. data, about the role of religion in various interrelated decisions that people make over the life cycle, including investments in secular human capital, cohabitation, marriage, divorce, family size and employment. It also identifies gaps in our knowledge, and suggests agenda items for future research in the field. These include use of statistical models that allow for non-linearities in the effects associated with religious participation; consideration of contextual effects; and analyses that address anomalies found in earlier work regarding patterns of non-marital sex and divorce among conservative Protestants. Further work is also needed to increase our understanding of the role that religious factors are playing as various dimensions of the second demographic transition, along with elements of American exceptionalism, continue to unfold in the U.S.
Subjects: 
Religion
religiosity
JEL: 
J1
J2
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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