Maryam Dilmaghani

Civic participation of secular groups in Canada

Abstract Using two recent nationally representative Canadian surveys, this paper investigates how secularization affects civic participation, inclusive of political engagement and philanthropy. Three mutually exclusive categories of secularized individuals are considered. The analysis suggests that Canadian secular groups are relatively less engaged with politics and volunteer fewer hours, compared with the actively religious. They are, however, found to contribute significantly more money to secular causes, controlling for a wide range of individual attributes. Various explanations are explored.

Religiosity and social trust: evidence from Canada

Abstract Using the latest wave of the Canadian Ethnic Diversity Survey, I investigate whether religious identity and religious intensity associate with the degree to which people trust others, controlling for a wide range of characteristics. The analysis shows that Canadian Roman Catholics are appreciably less trusting than mainline Protestants, and religious nones are situated in between these two groups. With regard to religious intensity, I find that higher commitment negatively correlates with trust in unknown others for Roman Catholics. The reverse is true for Protestants. Results also show stark cross-denominational variations within Protestantism, as two highly committed denominations of Mennonite and Pentecostal are found to be the most and the least trusting religious groups in Canada. No non-Christian religious minority is found statistically significantly less trusting than Canadian Roman Catholics. Considering particularized trust in one’s neighbours and co-workers yields comparable conclusions.

Religiosity and female labour market attainment in Canada: the Protestant exception

Purpose - – The relationship between religiosity and female labour market attainment has been widely investigated for the USA; however, no comparable study has been undertaken for the Canadian context. The purpose of this paper is to redress this critical oversight of the literature by examining the impact of religiosity on Canadian female labour supply, both at extensive and intensive margins. Design/methodology/approach - – Using data from the Canadian Ethnic Diversity Survey, the authors consider all the measurable dimensions of religiosity, for the pooled sample, as well as by religious group. A wide array of control variables is included in the regressions to insure the reliability of the estimates. Findings - – The authors find that overall religiosity inversely relates to female labour supply in Canada. When the impact of religiosity is assessed on a by religion basis, it is revealed that Protestant females are penalized, by far the most. Practical implications - – The result is comparable with the pattern uncovered in the USA for Conservative Protestant females. Unlike what can be expected, no statistically significant difference is detected between religious-nones and Catholics, suggesting a convergence of gender ideologies. Originality/value - – The investigation reveals interesting patterns that not only contribute to the current state of literature, but also motivate future research. Fairlie and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition techniques are also used to further explore attainment gaps among the religious groups.

Religiosity, gender, and wage: the differentiated impact of private prayer in Canada

Purpose - – Does religiosity impact wages differently for males and females? Does the impact on wage of different dimensions of religiosity, namely the importance of religion, the frequency of religious practice with others and individually, differ for men and women? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - – Using the Canadian Ethnic Diversity Survey, made public in 2004, this paper investigates whether there are evidences for a gender difference in the impact of religiosity on wage. A Mincerean wage regression is estimated using both multiple linear regression and Heckit. Findings - – Religious females are found to receive a premium over their labour earnings, through the frequency of private-prayer while the same dimension of religiosity penalizes males’ mean wage. The by-gender impact slightly widens for the subsample of employees, while it diminishes for the self-employed. Research limitations/implications - – Making use of the most comprehensive data set available and standard methodology, the paper creates stylized facts that are of interest to the scholars of a multiplicity of disciplines. Practical implications - – It advances the body of knowledge about the impact of religiosity on productivity and whether it has a by-gender component. Social implications - – The research also informs policy-makers in their decision about the appropriate level of accommodation of religiosity in the workplace. Originality/value - – The present work is the first research paper examining the by-gender impact of different dimensions of religiosity on productivity thereby wage.

Exploring the Relationship between Secularity and Marital Behavior

ABSTRACT The higher religiosity of women is a longstanding feature of the religious landscape in the Western World. With the recent vibrancy of secular movements, the greater religiosity of women is reflected in a gender imbalance within the secular groups. For instance, more than three quarters of American atheists are male. Given the effects of both religiosity and secularity on worldview and lifestyle, this gender imbalance is likely consequential for marital behavior and outcomes. Using the latest cycle of the Canadian General Social Survey focused on family, this paper examines how marital behavior of individuals without any tie with religion or spirituality compares with others. Secular males are found appreciably more likely to experience marital dissolution, whereas their female counterparts are shown no different from others. This result lends support to the theories that posit religiosity as a complementary marital trait, requiring the mating of the like. The analysis also indicates that union formation behavior of secular females manifests a larger shift away from the traditional conceptions of marriage compared with secular males. Various explanations are explored.

Religious Identity and Health Inequalities in Canada

In the past few decades, most new immigrants to Canada have originated from non-Christian countries. During the same period, the unaffiliation rates have sharply increased in Canada. This paper investigates whether there are any health inequalities associated with religious identity, including also the individuals who do not identify with organized religion in the analysis. The study uses the Canadian General Social Survey of 2012 (N = 23,093), focused on Caregiving and Care-receiving. Employing multivariate regression analysis and controlling for a large set of characteristics inclusive of the degree of religious commitment, individuals who identify as Protestant are found at a physical and mental health advantage, compared with Roman Catholics and most other groups. On the other hand, individuals who identify as Jehovah’s Witnesses are found at a considerable physical health disadvantage. Among the unaffiliated individuals, those who have retained some ties with organized religion without formally identifying with it are found at a mental health disadvantage compared with all religious groups, as well as the secular individuals who are strictly committed to their nonreligious views. Possible causes and various implications are discussed.

Revisiting sacrifice and stigma: Why older churches become more liberal

Abstract This paper revisits the concept of ‘Sacrifice and Stigma’ first introduced in the seminal model of Iannaccone, published in 1992. Iannaccone provides an explanation for the rise of strict churches in face of the decline of liberal ones. He argues that costly and stigmatizing requirements, which make a church distinctive and strict, reduce free-riding in the group, conferring it a competitive edge. His model, however, does not address the question of why certain churches, generally older and larger, become more liberal and easygoing. I argue that for established groups, which rely on intergenerational transmission of religious preference, ‘sacrifice and stigma’ are no longer means of screening free-riders but determine the depreciation rate of the stock of religious capital of the group. Modeling the setting as a differential game, I show that in such circumstances, a reduction in the required ‘sacrifice and stigma’ increases the steady-state level of contribution to the church.

Religious identity and real estate wealth accumulation: evidence from Canada

Abstract The real estate wealth disparities associated with religious identity have rarely been investigated in the literature. Such investigation is important, since the benefits of investment in an owner-occupied residence expand beyond individual wealth accumulation. Homeowners have a greater incentive to invest in their neighbourhoods and are more engaged with their local communities. These individual incentives engender social benefits. Using the Canadian National Household Survey of 2011, this paper examines how religious identity associates with the patterns of real estate wealth accumulation in Canada. Three interrelated outcomes of homeownership, value of the dwelling and the likelihood of carrying a mortgage are considered. The differences among a number of religious groups are non-negligible and impervious to the inclusion of controls. In accord with the US patterns, conservative Protestants are found at a disadvantage in real estate wealth accumulation. Jews, the highest earning group, are found to have a lower likelihood of homeownership, compared with most other groups. But, conditional on owning, Jews have more valuable homes. Muslims, the lowest earning group, are found the least likely to own. But, conditional on homeownership, Muslims are less likely than all other groups to carry a mortgage. Sikhs are found to statistically significantly differ from Hindus, in their homeownership rates and the value of their dwellings. Various explanations are explored.

Religiosity and the digital divide in Canada

ABSTRACT The digital divide refers to the differential patterns of Internet access adoption and usage across different segments of populations. The digital divide has been linked to demographic variables such as age and gender, and socioeconomic characteristics such as education and income. Using a nationally representative Canadian survey (N = 27,223) conducted in 2013, this paper investigates whether religiosity has an independent effect on the digital divide, accounting for the previously validated predictors of Internet use. Religiosity is found to negatively associate with Internet access and activity, controlling for a large set of characteristics such as age, ethnicity, education, and income. The religiosity-related gaps in the usage patterns appear to indicate lifestyle differences for those without any tie with religion compared with the individuals of average religiosity. For the very religious, the gaps indicate that they utilize the Internet for social networking less than others. Various implications are discussed.

Canadian religious trends: Secularization, polarization, or free-rider exclusion?

Religiously unaffiliated Canadians have been persistently more likely to reside in the western provinces. In parallel, the degree of religiosity of the affiliates has been generally higher in the low affiliation provinces of the west. This pattern has led some scholars to characterize Canada as religiously polarized. However, in the literature, a quantitative measure of polarization is lacking. Moreover, religious polarization, a rather vividly debated characterization, is not by itself an explanation for the patterns. The present article, using the Canadian General Social Surveys of 1985 to 2011, contributes to the debate in three ways. First, this article establishes the robustness of the geographic discrepancies in unaffiliation rates and the degree of religiosity in Canada. Second, this study proposes and computes a quantitative measure of polarization. Finally the article explores the role of free-rider exclusion as an explanation for the patterns.