Just wait till you get older...

[muckefuck]

I've frequently wondered if the oft-noted trend of young people to get "more conservative" as they age was as universal as all that. Now at last some clear evidence that it isn't. It will be interesting to see what sociologists turn up as they go about investigating the causes. In particular, I'll be interested in seeing the role ascribed to childlessness (which is double for our generation what it was for our parents), since many people I know personally have identified this as a driver of returns to the fold. How many of us, on articulating our liberal views to our elders, have heard the words, "You'll feel different when you have kids." I didn't have kids and I don't feel different, but I'm not sure what connexion there might be between those two things, if any. It is worth noting, however, that of us four kids, the only one who's still a practicing Catholic is also the only one with any offspring.

An interesting side note on that: my generation was also the "most Catholic" in USA history, with a fully a third identified with the religion in the 70s. Now it's down to a quarter and still dropping, something conservative pundits are ascribing to "confusion" about what the RCC actually teaches as a result of Vatican II. Hate to break it to you, guys, but I know in pretty thorough detail what the RCC actually teaches and that's precisely why I could never again be a practicing Catholic.

Comments

[jovianconsensus.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I strongly suspect the decline in religious affiliation is related to childlessness, but which is the cause, and which the effect? Or they could both be caused by some common factor. Maybe this cohort doesn't trust in social institutions like religion because they felt like those institutions never came through for them: they never felt secure enough to have children.

Can I get a ruling on when Generation X ends? I was born in 1980 and am sometimes told that I'm part of it, sometimes not. This article defines it as ending in 1972, which seems very early. Surveying a narrower age band is the right choice here (don't want to mix in 30-somethings who are still having children), but why call it Generation X?

Of course, economic conservatism is dead among the elderly. The epitaph: "Keep your government hands off my Medicare."

[mollyc-q.livejournal.com]

I have to wonder to what extent Roe v. Wade/wider availability of birth control, the feminist movement and Baby-Boomer divorce rates played in a greater percentage Gen Xer's going without having children. Among my friends, or people I knew in college who got married, children are the exception and not the rule. My best friend from high school and I are both childless and unmarried. Most of my women friends from college are also childless, and entirely by choice. Most of my women friends from grad school, similarly not having kids in their 20s or at all. I think it became more acceptable/expected that women would go to college and have careers however they manage the issue of children. It was culture shock to be in the South most people are married in their early 20s.

Mucke, correct me if I am wrong, but hadn't the methodical chipping away of Vatican II (under John Paul and Ratzinger), coupled to the revelations of financial and sexual abuse crises and the Vatican's reaction played a big role in the declining numbers? A few years back, I recall reading that were it not for immigration from Latin America, the population of Catholics in the U.S. would be even smaller.

[richardthinks.livejournal.com]

I have kids and I'm probably more socially "liberal" now than I ever have been. That said, a recent reunion with old friends made me realise that I'm probably quite an outlier in that group.
I've always been an atheist, pretty much from the first moment I gave the question any thought, so I can't help much on religious questions.