Many Of The Poorest Americans Are Abandoning Church En Masse

Many of the poorest Americans are abandoning the church in numbers, according to research findings from Eastern Illinois University. Lowndes County residents are seen during this meeting at the 1st Baptist Church of Hayneville, Ala., on Tuesday, April 30, 2002. Image: AP Photo/Dave Martin

Many of the poorest Americans are abandoning church in numbers, a disturbing trend that is denying social and networking capital to those who need it the most, according to research findings by political scientist Ryan P. Burge of the Eastern Illinois University.

Burge’s research, which was first published by the Religion in Public blog, showed that people in the lowest income bracket according to the General Social Survey were more likely than any other not to attend church services.

The poorest Americans are not attending church

The gap between the four income groups tracked by the General Social Survey has doubled from just 5% in the 1970s to more than 10% in 2018 when “a quarter of the wealthiest Americans reported never attending church while those at the bottom income bracket who never darkened a church door were over 35%.”

“Consider this, 40% of individuals who are in the bottom quartile of the income spectrum and engage in few social activities never attend church. That’s twice the rate of someone in the top income bracket who has an active social life,” Burge wrote in Christian Today.

The gap between the poor and the rich in terms of church attendance has also spiked in recent years.

Those at the top of the income ladder have become even more social since 2000, according to the research, while those at the bottom are increasingly becoming isolated.

Ryan Burge on Poor People Leaving the Church https://t.co/r4ZzTyatxZ pic.twitter.com/dngUmVUG09

— BCNN1 (@bcnn1) November 29, 2019

ICYMI: I wrote a piece for @CTmagazine.

The income gap is driving a wedge not just in wages, but also in social activity.

35% of the poorest Americans never attend church, compared to just 25% of the richest.

The gap has doubled since 1972. https://t.co/Mpp0MsEG4P

— Ryan Burge 📊 (@ryanburge) December 2, 2019

This story was written by Kevin Mwanza and originally appeared on www.moguldom.com.