Religion and Labor: An Examination of Religious Service Attendance and Unemployment Using Count Data Methods

I use count data estimation with data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) cohort and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to evaluate the relationship between unemployment and the frequency of religious service attendance for individuals of working age. Empirical results for unemployed men and unemployed women in the NLSY79 show that religious service attendance is 22 percent lower and 72 percent higher, respectively, relative to employed men and employed women, respectively. Results for individuals in the HRS indicate that unemployed men and unemployed women attend religious services 18 percent less and 16 percent more frequently, respectively, relative to employed counterparts. There are no additional significant correlations for time spent unemployed.