The economic differences among the country’s various religions are
strikingly large, much larger than the differences among states and even
larger than those among racial groups.
The most affluent of the major religions — including secularism — is
Reform Judaism. Sixty-seven percent of Reform Jewish households made
more than $75,000 a year at the time the Pew Forum on Religion and
Public Life collected the data, compared with only 31 percent of the
population as a whole.
Hindus were second, at 65 percent, and
Conservative Jews were third, at 57 percent.
On the other end are
Pentecostals,
Jehovah’s Witnesses and
Baptists. In
each case, 20 percent or fewer of followers made at least $75,000.
Remarkably, the share of Baptist households making $40,000 or less is
roughly the same as the share of Reform Jews making $100,000 or more.
Overall, Protestants, who together are the country’s largest religious
group, are poorer than average and poorer than Catholics. That stands in
contrast to the long history, made famous by Max Weber, of Protestant
nations generally being richer than Catholic nations.
Many factors are behind the discrepancies among religions, but one
stands out.
The relationship between education and income is so strong
that you can almost draw a line through the points on this graph. Social
science rarely produces results this clean.
What about the modest outliers — like
Unitarians,
Buddhists and
Orthodox
Christians,
all of whom are less affluent than they are educated (and
are below the imaginary line)? One possible explanation is that some
religions are more likely to produce, or to attract, people who
voluntarily choose lower-paying jobs, like teaching.
Another potential explanation is
discrimination. Scott Keeter of Pew
notes that researchers have used more sophisticated versions of this
sort of analysis to look for patterns of
marketplace discrimination. And
a few of the religions that make less than their education would
suggest have largely nonwhite followings, including Buddhism and
Hinduism. Pew also created a category of traditionally black Protestant
congregations, and it was somewhat poorer than could be explained by
education levels. These patterns don’t prove discrimination, but they
raise questions.
Some of the income differences probably stem from culture. Some faiths
place great importance on formal education. But the differences are also
self-reinforcing. People who make more money can send their children to
better schools, exacerbating the many advantages they have over poorer
children. Round and round, the cycle goes. It won’t solve itself.
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