Immigration and parental transmission of church attendance in Australia

Village, Andrew; Pepper, Miriam; Powell, Ruth

Immigration and parental transmission of church attendance in Australia

Village, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2174-8822, Pepper, Miriam and Powell, Ruth (2026) Immigration and parental transmission of church attendance in Australia. Journal of Contemporary Religion.

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2026.2700151

Abstract

Recent studies suggest intergenerational religious transmission varies in migrant communities depending on the status of religion in the countries of origin and destination. This article examines whether the children of churchgoing Asian-born migrants living in Australia were more likely to attend church than their counterparts from Australian-born families or European/North American migrant families. Data on 108,933 children were derived from the responses of 89,756 parents in 2,860 different congregations who took part in the Australian National Church Life Survey in 2021. Adult children (ages 19–40) of Asian-born parents were 1.5 times more likely to attend church than the children of Australian-born parents. They were also more likely to attend than the children of European-/North American-born parents, suggesting it was not migration per se which was associated with high religious transmission. The differences persisted after accounting for higher co-residence rates among adult children of Asian backgrounds. The difference between the children of Asian migrants and other groups was most marked among Catholics, Anglicans, and those attending the Uniting Church, but less so among other Protestant denominations.