New research by the University of Manchester has found that people are less likely to attend religious services regularly if their income rises.
Dr Ingrid Storm analysed survey data on more than 20,000 people in Britain to compare their income and religious attendance.
Her research is the first of its kind to use data on the same people measured over time, from 1991 to 2012.
Dr Storm found that a rise in income of about £10,000 a year (£880 a month) meant that people were 6 percentage points less likely to attend services monthly.
But a fall in income had no effect on people's monthly attendance at churches, mosques and other places of worship, the research showed.
She said that a reason that people turned away from religious services when their income increased was that they had less need for the social support found in religious communities.
People who are busy have less time for extra-curricular activities.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bradley13 on Thursday April 06 2017, @09:43AM (1 child)
Opiate of the masses. Hope in a hopeless life. A penny in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs. Etc...
Religion has always been primarily of interest to the poor, and the reason is almost certainly that they are the ones who need hope, who need to believe that their existence isn't as awful as it seems. Once your daily existence is less awful, you have less need for the fairy tales.
The corollary, of course, is that the upper classes have always known how to exploit this. Get enough pennies from paupers, and you can build yourself a nice little diocese, bishopry or Vatican.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday April 06 2017, @07:11PM
Going to boost you to Score:6, Insightful
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---