Family Facts: Social Science Research on Family, Society & Religion

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This finding looks at the relationship between religious service attendance and the likelihood of marriage within 12 months after giving birth out of wedlock among urban mothers.

For urban single mothers of all races and ethnicities, frequent attendance at religious services (i.e., several times a month or more) increased the likelihood of marriage within a year of giving birth out of wedlock. Urban single mothers who frequently attended religious services were nearly two-thirds more likely to get married within a year of having a child out of wedlock than mothers who attended infrequently.

Sample or Data Description
Data came from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a national survey of parents and children in 20 U.S. cities with populations over 200,000. This analytical sample consisted of 3,069 respondents who were not married at the time of the initial survey when they had a child out of wedlock.

Source
"Then Comes Marriage? Religion, Race, and Marriage in Urban America"
Wilcox, W. Bradford
Wolfinger, Nicholas
Social Science Research Vol. 63, Number 2. June, 2007. Page(s) 569-589.

FindingID: 8770