Table 2.
Descriptive Statistics of General Social Survey Sample 1973 – 2012 (N=34,565)
| Total | Affiliation/Disaffiliation
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consistently Affiliated | Religious -> None | None -> Religious | Consistently Unaffiliated | ||
| N | 34,565 | 30,230 (87%) | 2,696 (8%) | 731 (2%) | 908 (3%) |
| Mean Age | 44.5 | 45.3 | 39.1 | 44.0 | 35.5 |
| Female (%) | 56.0 | 57.5 | 40.3 | 59.0 | 48.4 |
| Race | |||||
| White (%) | 81.6 | 81.4 | 86.0 | 89.1 | 78.6 |
| Black | 13.8 | 14.6 | 8.5 | 6.3 | 11.7 |
| Other | 4.6 | 4.4 | 5.5 | 4.7 | 9.7 |
| Marital Status | |||||
| Married (%) | 54.8 | 56.1 | 41.3a | 57.5 | 36.7 |
| Divorced/Separated | 16.0 | 15.0 | 19.5a | 16.4 | 16.4 |
| Widowed | 8.5 | 10.4 | 3.5a | 8.6 | 3.1 |
| Never Married | 20.8 | 18.4 | 35.5a | 17.5 | 43.8 |
| Mean Number of Children | 1.9 | 2.0 | 1.2a | 2.1 | 1.1 |
| Education | |||||
| Less Than High School (%) | 21.6 | 24.0 | 16.2a | 23.5 | 23.1 |
| High School | 30.9 | 31.7 | 22.9a | 32.4 | 28.2 |
| Some College | 24.1 | 22.9 | 28.4a | 22.4 | 24.9 |
| College Degree | 23.4 | 21.2 | 32.4a | 21.6 | 23.7 |
| Income Quartile | |||||
| Bottom (%) | 24.2 | 24.2 | 21.7a | 27.8 | 31.4 |
| Bottom-Middle | 25.5 | 25.5 | 25.6 | 24.5 | 26.3 |
| Upper-Middle | 25.0 | 25.0 | 25.5 | 25.6 | 21.0 |
| Upper | 25.3 | 25.3 | 27.3a | 22.1 | 21.2 |
| Parental Education | |||||
| Less Than High School (%) | 38.6 | 41.8 | 23.9a | 38.5 | 22.7 |
| High School | 42.3 | 40.7 | 48.2a | 44.0 | 49.8 |
| Some College | 3.2 | 2.9 | 4.3a | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| College Degree | 16.0 | 14.7 | 23.7a | 14.4 | 23.9 |
| Childhood Family Situation | |||||
| Lived with both parents (%) | 74.2 | 75.2 | 69.4a | 66.0 | 62.4 |
| Parents divorced | 12.4 | 11.3 | 18.3a | 18.6 | 24.2 |
| Parent died/other | 13.4 | 13.5 | 12.2 | 15.4 | 13.4 |
| Mobility since age 16 | |||||
| Same City (%) | 40.9 | 41.7 | 35.6a | 34.5 | 43.5 |
| Difference City, Same State | 25.9 | 25.4 | 26.0 | 29.0 | 26.0 |
| Different State | 33.2 | 32.9 | 38.3a | 36.5 | 30.5 |
| Self-Reported Healthb | |||||
| Fair/Poor (%) | 22.6 | 23.9 | 23.4 | 23.9 | 20.8 |
| Good/Excellent | 77.4 | 76.1 | 76.6 | 76.1 | 79.2 |
| Subjective Well-Beingb | |||||
| Very Happy (%) | 31.9 | 33.0 | 25.2a | 29.2 | 26.3 |
| Pretty Happy | 55.9 | 55.0 | 59.7a | 58.2 | 58.3 |
| Not too Happy | 12.2 | 12.0 | 15.1a | 12.7 | 15.3 |
| Attendance | |||||
| Never (%) | 15.6 | 9.9 | 60.7a | 14.6 | 71.2 |
| At Least Once a Year | 33.5 | 33.8 | 34.2a | 29.4 | 24.2 |
| At Least Once a Month | 22.3 | 24.6 | 3.4a | 20.1 | 3.0 |
| At Least Once a Week | 28.7 | 31.8 | 1.7a | 35.8 | 1.7 |
Notes: Reflects demographic and socioeconomic differences among religious affiliation groups (columns).
a
Significantly different from those who remain religions at the p<.05 level.
b
Self-reported health and well-being percentages are age-standardized.