People Were More Religious Before Education Became Compulsory

Compulsory education has been shown to broaden people’s occupational choices and improve their earnings, but each additional year of schooling also leads to a 4-percentage-point increase in an individual’s likelihood of reporting no religious affiliation, according to a study of Canadian data by Daniel M. Hungerman of the University of Notre Dame. Education’s impact on earnings might be part of the reason for the decline in religiosity, as might exposure to science and other cultures, Hungerman says. The proportion of Canadians reporting no religious affiliation rose from 4% in 1971 to 16% in 2001; there was a similar increase in the U.S.