The Family Faith Transmission Question

How do family faith practices and parent engagement interact with church programming to affect youth retention?

in reviewEvidence B · 69/100high confidence

Executive summary

Across decades of research — from Valuegenesis I in 1990 to Pew Research's December 2025 switching survey — one variable consistently emerges as the strongest predictor of whether young people retain their faith: **the faith practices of their parents.** The Pew 2025 data confirms this yet again: among those who stayed in their childhood religion, 64% cite believing the teachings (transmitted primarily through family) as the top reason, while among those who left, the #1 reason at 46% is they "s...

Evidence trail

Sources

1
researchgate.net
2
pewresearch.org
3

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encyclopedia.adventist.org

pewresearch.org

vancopayments.com

digitalcommons.andrews.edu

digitalcommons.andrews.edu

reporter.lcms.org

churchlifejournal.nd.edu

journalofadventisteducation.org

jacl.andrews.edu

ministrymagazine.org

Record details

Evidence score: 69/100
Sources: 31
Words: 4,220
Created: 2026-03-03

Topics & regions

familyparentsfaith-transmissionhome-churchintergenerationalpew-dataNorth AmericaAustraliaSouth PacificGlobalAfricaSouth AmericaAsiaEurope