Study results on Nones as parents presents challenges and opportunities
By Neva Rae Fox
A timely study, undertaken to examine the future of church with “Nones” as parents, has presented findings that are both encouraging and challenging.
The study, Young Adult Parents Research Findings: What happens to faith when "nones" have children?, was commissioned in October 2023 by TryTank Research Institute (TRI), a venture of Virginia Theological Seminary. TRI partnered with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Presbyterian Church (USA) for the study.
Nones are defined as individuals with no religious affiliation.
The research was prompted by an urgent need for a closer look at the future. “The number of religiously unaffiliated has been rising in this country for over a decade,” explained the Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija, Executive Director of TRI and Chief Innovation Officer for Virginia Theological Seminary. “The first wave of Nones is coming to the age where they might be thinking about or are already starting a family. We wanted to know what happens to faith when Nones start having children. How are they planning for their religious and spiritual development, if at all? What can the church do to support these young families in ways that will be received and impactful?”
The eye-opening findings indicate there are lessons to be learned. As stated in the report, “Findings reveal ‘a time of transformation.’ We stand at the brink of reimagining how spirituality and religion can enrich our personal lives and bond our communities, reigniting a sense of purpose and meaning.”
The report also offered ways in which churches can assist Nones in parenting while being attractive to upcoming generations.
The results are grouped into four major findings that emerged from the research. Easy to understand and presented with colorful charts and tables to illustrate findings, the results are available here.
Major Finding 1: The faith stops here (or Nones are parenting VERY differently).
Nearly one-quarter – 21.2% - of Nones strongly disagreed with the statement: “I would be interested in going to church for the spiritual development of my kids even if it didn't meet my own religious/spiritual needs.” Only 11.5% strongly agreed with this statement.
In the report: “A story emerges where the Nones are pretty clearly rejecting institutional forms of faith and planning on engaging them little if at all in the course of their parenting.”
Concurrently, 43.8% - nearly half – disagreed that “it is necessary to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values” while a mere 7.3% strongly agreed.
“Nones as parents present a significant challenge to the church,” the narrative stated. “They are simply not concerned about formal, institutional religious and spiritual formation of their children.”
More than half (52.3%) said it’s “not at all important” for their kids to be faithful/religious as adults, indicating that formation and Christian teachings are not relevant.
Major Finding 2: Religion/Spirituality are the least of parent’s concerns.
While career and financial stability are important, the research showed parents didn’t see faith connected to those goals.
“This suggests that the church has done a poor job of showing how a strong religious or spiritual life is intertwined with the other areas of health and happiness,” the narrative noted.
Major Finding 3: Life is hard.
While it is not a surprise that young adults find life hard, the majority, 33%, strongly agreed that “Life is generally harder than I expected it to be at this point.” Interestingly, while only 7% disagreed, a surprising 19% - nearly one-quarter - neither agreed nor disagreed.
Major Finding 4: Increasing number of childless adults.
Statistics, such as those offered by Gallup, have reported a “steep decline” in birth rates. From the report: “Our results show that 41% of 25–39-year-olds are not planning to have children.”
This, in turn, will directly impact ministries and traditional programs like Sunday School and formation for sacraments.
“We asked parents and likely parents about a variety of issues likely to come up with childraising including asking them to rate how important it is to teach different skills to their children and how much they worry about different scenarios,” said sociologist Dr. Josh Packard, research advisor to the study. “In both cases, issues of faith and spirituality ranked last for parents. Additionally, parents and prospective parents are not particularly concerned with passing on their faith. When we asked them about what they wanted for their children as adults, having similar religious beliefs ranked ahead of only having similar political beliefs.”
Despite some alarming findings, “We weren’t surprised, but it’s still shocking to see just how differently Nones are thinking about parenting,” Dr. Packard commented. “They are simply not concerned very much about the faith and spiritual lives of their children. For example, only 37% of Nones say it’s important for their kids to feel connected to something bigger than themselves. Given the fundamental human need and desire to explore these connections, this suggests that a significant group of parents will be raising children without many of the skills needed to address a basic component of what it means to be human. The church has a real opportunity to help in this regard.”
TRI plans to continue its investigation. “We’re going to follow up this initial survey with a qualitative exploration and then another survey,” Rev. Lebrija promised. “We plan on staying focused on this important group of people for a while. It’s important that the church understand them better so we can serve them and their children effectively.”
The 84-page report, including charts, tables, Project Objectives, etc., in a downloadable PDF is here with full charts, stats, and percentages.
TryTank Research Institute (TRI), launched in 2019, focuses on advancing theological research to meet the evolving needs of the church in the modern world.
A timely study, undertaken to examine the future of church with “Nones” as parents, has presented findings that are both encouraging and challenging.
The study, Young Adult Parents Research Findings: What happens to faith when "nones" have children?, was commissioned in October 2023 by TryTank Research Institute (TRI), a venture of Virginia Theological Seminary. TRI partnered with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Presbyterian Church (USA) for the study.
Nones are defined as individuals with no religious affiliation.
The research was prompted by an urgent need for a closer look at the future. “The number of religiously unaffiliated has been rising in this country for over a decade,” explained the Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija, Executive Director of TRI and Chief Innovation Officer for Virginia Theological Seminary. “The first wave of Nones is coming to the age where they might be thinking about or are already starting a family. We wanted to know what happens to faith when Nones start having children. How are they planning for their religious and spiritual development, if at all? What can the church do to support these young families in ways that will be received and impactful?”
The eye-opening findings indicate there are lessons to be learned. As stated in the report, “Findings reveal ‘a time of transformation.’ We stand at the brink of reimagining how spirituality and religion can enrich our personal lives and bond our communities, reigniting a sense of purpose and meaning.”
The report also offered ways in which churches can assist Nones in parenting while being attractive to upcoming generations.
The results are grouped into four major findings that emerged from the research. Easy to understand and presented with colorful charts and tables to illustrate findings, the results are available here.
Major Finding 1: The faith stops here (or Nones are parenting VERY differently).
Nearly one-quarter – 21.2% - of Nones strongly disagreed with the statement: “I would be interested in going to church for the spiritual development of my kids even if it didn't meet my own religious/spiritual needs.” Only 11.5% strongly agreed with this statement.
In the report: “A story emerges where the Nones are pretty clearly rejecting institutional forms of faith and planning on engaging them little if at all in the course of their parenting.”
Concurrently, 43.8% - nearly half – disagreed that “it is necessary to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values” while a mere 7.3% strongly agreed.
“Nones as parents present a significant challenge to the church,” the narrative stated. “They are simply not concerned about formal, institutional religious and spiritual formation of their children.”
More than half (52.3%) said it’s “not at all important” for their kids to be faithful/religious as adults, indicating that formation and Christian teachings are not relevant.
Major Finding 2: Religion/Spirituality are the least of parent’s concerns.
While career and financial stability are important, the research showed parents didn’t see faith connected to those goals.
“This suggests that the church has done a poor job of showing how a strong religious or spiritual life is intertwined with the other areas of health and happiness,” the narrative noted.
Major Finding 3: Life is hard.
While it is not a surprise that young adults find life hard, the majority, 33%, strongly agreed that “Life is generally harder than I expected it to be at this point.” Interestingly, while only 7% disagreed, a surprising 19% - nearly one-quarter - neither agreed nor disagreed.
Major Finding 4: Increasing number of childless adults.
Statistics, such as those offered by Gallup, have reported a “steep decline” in birth rates. From the report: “Our results show that 41% of 25–39-year-olds are not planning to have children.”
This, in turn, will directly impact ministries and traditional programs like Sunday School and formation for sacraments.
“We asked parents and likely parents about a variety of issues likely to come up with childraising including asking them to rate how important it is to teach different skills to their children and how much they worry about different scenarios,” said sociologist Dr. Josh Packard, research advisor to the study. “In both cases, issues of faith and spirituality ranked last for parents. Additionally, parents and prospective parents are not particularly concerned with passing on their faith. When we asked them about what they wanted for their children as adults, having similar religious beliefs ranked ahead of only having similar political beliefs.”
Despite some alarming findings, “We weren’t surprised, but it’s still shocking to see just how differently Nones are thinking about parenting,” Dr. Packard commented. “They are simply not concerned very much about the faith and spiritual lives of their children. For example, only 37% of Nones say it’s important for their kids to feel connected to something bigger than themselves. Given the fundamental human need and desire to explore these connections, this suggests that a significant group of parents will be raising children without many of the skills needed to address a basic component of what it means to be human. The church has a real opportunity to help in this regard.”
TRI plans to continue its investigation. “We’re going to follow up this initial survey with a qualitative exploration and then another survey,” Rev. Lebrija promised. “We plan on staying focused on this important group of people for a while. It’s important that the church understand them better so we can serve them and their children effectively.”
The 84-page report, including charts, tables, Project Objectives, etc., in a downloadable PDF is here with full charts, stats, and percentages.
TryTank Research Institute (TRI), launched in 2019, focuses on advancing theological research to meet the evolving needs of the church in the modern world.
