Explanations for Individual Secularization: Exploring the Effects of Life Course Events on Religious Decline in the Netherlands Between 2009 and 2020

Abstract

The process of secularization in Western societies, in terms of the decline of individual religiosity, is often explained by way of cohort and period effects. In addition, there are many studies that focus on micro-level life course events that are considered to change individual religiosity. In this article, we use excellent panel data for the years 2009 to 2020 to distinguish the effects of 10 life course events on individual religiosity from cohort and period effects. Our object of study is the Netherlands, a forerunner in the process of secularization. The analyses, that is, mixed-effect regression models with almost 42,000 observations, reveal that completing an education, getting married or divorced, starting to cohabite, and receiving a higher income all affect individual religiosity. However, period effects and cohort differences are more important for Dutch secularization than life course events.