Who is Baptized? A Study of Socioeconomic, Regional and Gender Differences in Child Baptism in the Church of Sweden, 2005 and 2015

In less than 15 years, child baptism has gone from being a mainstream tradition to a minority practice. This decline is a result of both high unaffiliation, especially with the Church of Sweden, and a more diversified religious society due to migration. Using microdata from parents of children born...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Jonsson, Pernilla (Author) ; Sandberg, Andreas (Author) ; Svensson, Patrik (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Universitetsforlaget [2020]
In: Nordic journal of religion and society
Year: 2020, Volume: 33, Issue: 2, Pages: 72-86
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Svenska kyrkan / Child / Baptism / Parents / Religiosity / Church membership
IxTheo Classification:CB Christian life; spirituality
CH Christianity and Society
KBE Northern Europe; Scandinavia
KDD Protestant Church
NBP Sacramentology; sacraments
Further subjects:B Baptism
B Sweden
B Secularization
B religious ceremonies
B Religious Practice
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
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Summary:In less than 15 years, child baptism has gone from being a mainstream tradition to a minority practice. This decline is a result of both high unaffiliation, especially with the Church of Sweden, and a more diversified religious society due to migration. Using microdata from parents of children born in 2005 and 2015, we were able to discern that differences in the practice of child baptism in the Church of Sweden are positively associated with the parents’ relation to the church, residence in rural areas, and income. Our LPM analysis shows that the probability of a child being baptized are mainly determined by the parents’ relation to the church when controlling for all the other variables. The most influential factors are the mother’s affiliation and an urban lifestyle. Parents’ marital status and socioeconomic circumstances have a strong effect on the decision to baptize a child, therefore affecting who becomes a future member of the church.
ISSN:1890-7008
Contains:Enthalten in: Nordic journal of religion and society
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.18261/issn.1890-7008-2020-02-01