Wie verändert sich die Religiosität im Lebensverlauf? Eine Panelanalyse unter Berücksichtigung von Ost-West-Unterschieden

Abstract

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and fixed-effects regression models, this paper examines church attendance rates across the life course. For 1992–2007, the overall frequency of churchgoing shows a slight decrease (secularization). This period effect is continuously thwarted by a positive age effect. However, this positive age effect becomes weaker over the recent years which also might be interpreted as a kind of secularization. In-depth analyses show that, in West Germany, the age-specific increase of church attendance rates is paralleled by gradual increases in the frequency of churchgoing after transition into first marriage, when children reach school-age and after the transition to widowhood. However, reaching a higher educational level and an increase in labor market participation, as well as a first divorce (in West Germany) and the transition into a non-marital cohabitation (in East Germany) contribute to a decrease of religious participation.