Almost one in three Americans says the Covid-19 pandemic has strengthened their religious faith, significantly more people than in other countries, according to a report.
In the UK, one in 10 people said their faith had strengthened, a proportion that corresponds to the median in 14 countries surveyed by the Washington-based Pew Research Center.
Only 2% of Danes and 3% of Swedes reported a stronger personal faith. For Germans and Japanese, the value was 5%.
The contrast between the United States, on the one hand, and the countries of Western Europe and East Asia, on the other, was probably because religion continued to play a stronger role in American life than in many other economically developed countries, told Pew in his report.
White evangelical Christians in the United States were more likely than other Christians to report a stronger faith because of the coronavirus pandemic, with 49% saying it had grown.
Significantly higher proportions of people said the pandemic has strengthened family ties. More than four out of ten people in Spain, Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom – countries that have been affected by Covid – said their relationship with close relatives has become stronger. Only 18% in Japan and South Korea agreed.
Pew said: “As many families in the countries surveyed remain confined to their homes because of mandatory work at home and closed or virtual schools, more people say that their relationships with close relatives have become stronger than they say that those relationships have weakened. . ”
The median in 14 countries was 32%, stating that relationships grew stronger, while 8% said the opposite. In 11 countries, the majority said the pandemic has not changed their relationship with their immediate family.
Pew conducted its research last summer, when Covid infections and deaths were relatively low. More than 14,000 people were interviewed over the phone.