Research
National Survey of Religion and Family Life
Principal Investigator: Christopher G. EllisonAdditional Investigators: Penny Edgell, W. Bradford Wilcox
Rapid changes in US family life have displaced the traditional statistical and cultural dominance of the traditional nuclear family. This shift poses important challenges for American religion, because persons in non-traditional families are less supportive of, and less committed to, religious institutions. In this new environment, religious leaders, scholars, and concerned laity are challenging religious organizations to adapt to new family realities. At present, there are urgent questions about the changing nature of the relationship between religion and family in the United States, but very little systematic data with which to address them. We are proposing a large-scale nationwide survey of working-age US adults, focusing squarely on religion, spirituality, and family life, with significant oversampling of African Americans and Latinos. With these data, we will be able to address a number of important issues, including: (1) how changing family forms are influencing patterns of religious affiliation, practice, and belief; (2) how congregations are responding to these challenges, and whether these adaptations are adequate; (3) how religious institutions influence key aspects of family life (e.g., marital and relationship commitment and quality, parenting, work-family strategies); and (4) how evolving religion-family links vary along racial/ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic lines.