Income Inequality Correlates With Religiosity

The United States has the highest economic disparity in the Western world. It is also the most religious - about twice as religious as the U.K. This paper argues that economic inequality is a large contributor to the degree of religiosity in the U.S.

        There is strong support for the idea that America’s large income gap may be the cause of its exceptionally high religiosity. Although the United States and the United Kingdom are both among the most unequal countries, the United States has a considerably higher level of income inequality than the United Kingdom, as measured by comparing the incomes of the richest and the poorest 20 percent in each country (Pickett 2011; 17). This fact may play a role in the explanatory framework of the extent of America’s religiosity when compared to that of the U.K. Research on religion and inequality has found strong correlation between high levels of inequality and high religiosity. According to the Evolutionary Psychology journal’s article, The Chronic Dependence of Popular Religiosity upon Dysfunctional Psychosociological Conditions, “high levels of income disparity, popular religiosity as measured by differing levels of belief and activity, and rejection of evolutionary science correlate strongly negatively with improving conditions” (Paul 2007; 398). Graph 1.0 and Graph 1.1 demonstrate the relationship between Gini-coefficient income inequality and popular religiosity versus secularism scale.

Graph 1.0 Income inequality in rich countries is related to religiosity.

Graph 1.0 Key: Each country is represented by the bold letter in each country’s name. 

The United States is represented by the letter “U” and England by the letter “E”.

Full paper: Why Is The United States More Religious Than The United Kingdom?