Religiosity and Social Groups: Religion and Social Class

What forms of Religious Organisations are more affiliate with Class?

1. Church: Working-class

2. Denomination: Middle-class

3. Sect: Working-class

4. Cult: Middle-class

What do Ashworth and Farthing (2007) argue about Church Attendance? (Church Attendance)

• Church-going is mainly associated with the middle class than working class.

• For both sexes, those in middle-class hobs were an above-average frequency of church attendance, which those in skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled working-class jobs were less likely to attend regularly.

• They also found that those entirely dependent on state benefits because of sickness, unemployment or old age were the least likely group to regularly attend church.

Finding from the YouGov survey in 2015 (Church Attendance)

62% of regular churchgoers were middle-class.

Findings from the BSA survey in 2012 (Church Attendance)

• 73% of skilled manual workers claimed they had never attended a religious service.

• 63% of professional and managerial workers.

• The research also included weddings, christenings and funerals.

Why did Voas and Wyatt’s research of 2014 suggest that church-going is mainly for middle-class people? (Church Attendance)

• It was conducted on behalf of Church of England.

• Attendance in rural churches were twice as likely as attendances in urban parishes.

• They found some evidence in the North & the Midlands.

• They noted some growth in Church attendance, especially in those suburban areas which had academically high-performing church primary and secondary schools.

• This suggests that Church attendance is higher among the middle classes than working classes.

Give a definition of a) Lifelong theists and b) Lifelong atheists? (Religious Belief)

a) Lifelong theism refers to people who have always believed in a god, as opposed to people who have recently been converted.

b) Life long atheists are those who have never believed in a god.

Research from Lawes (2009) [Religious Belief]

• Lifelong thesists disproportionately come from semi-skilled and unskilled manual backgrounds and are less likely to have academic qualifications.

• Lifelong atheists, disporportionately, come from higher professional and managerial backgrounds. This group is more likely to have experienced higher education.

• Atheism has historically been a minority movement even among better-educated people, but it is becoming much more prominent in the UK and worldwide.

How does Lawes’ findings fit with the findings regarding church attendance? (Religious Belief)

• It contraditicts the findings relating to Church attendance.

And whose idea is supported by the notion of ‘believing without belonging’? (Religious Belief)

• Gracie Davie

Is Class the only factor regarding religiosity? Give Reasons (Religious Belief)

• Sociologists need to be cautious when generalising about religiosity, church attendance and social class, because other factors may distort the statistics, most notably ethnicity, immigration, gender and age.

• E.g. there is evidence that church attendance in deprived inner city areas of large cities is higher than in other ubrna areas.