The Pew Research Center conducted a study on the religious identity of individuals raised in interfaith households. This study also included the religious “nones” parenting with someone who is religious. As McGuire points out in Chapter 3, children become socialized into the church at a young age, which is important in their religious upbringing. However, this looks much different if the parents are different religious background, especially when one of the parents are religious “nones”. One statistic from this study that I found particularly interesting was the fact that the mother was more responsible for a religious upbringing, therefore the child is more likely to adopt the mother’s religious beliefs. Another statistic that I found that related to Chaves and the decline of institutional religion among the younger generations was that “Those from religiously mixed backgrounds less likely to say religion was salient in their lives when they were growing up”. Diversity in marriages is increasing in terms of ethnic and religious diversity, but with this is the decline of a formal religious affiliation among those children. This study shows how themes within Chaves and McGuire’s books are being played out in American society today.

http://www.pewforum.org/2016/10/26/one-in-five-u-s-adults-were-raised-in-interfaith-homes/