Church attendance boosts youth employment through networking, not religious belief.

Evidence

Other studies have examined the importance of institutionalized social-capital networks for job attainment. For example, the frequency of church attendance is one of the strongest predictors of whether inner-city black youths will become gainfully employed. The youths’ religious beliefs have almost no impact on employment, suggesting that it is the social networking aspect of churchgoing, not the religious aspect, that is behind these youths’ economic success. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 1113

Categorization

• XREF: Overlaps with the religious closure/dropout findings in SocialCapitalCreation-1988 — same mechanism of religious congregation as social capital. — connects to: Nonprofit sector growth does not indicate rising social connectedness. — Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone: America’s Declining…, 43; Religious rituals maintain identity and build lasting community support networks — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 892; Religion is historically the primary motivator of prosociality among strangers.

Broader Connections

• Religious rituals maintain identity and build lasting community support networks #corroborates (0.78) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 892
• Religion is historically the primary motivator of prosociality among strangers. #contradicts (0.72)