WHAT HAPPENED: A Gallup poll from 2024-2025 shows that 42 percent of young men now consider religion “very important,” a significant increase from 28 percent in 2022-2023, surpassing young women, who remain steady at 30 percent.

DETAIL: This marks a reversal of a long-standing trend, as young men have now surpassed young women in religiosity for the first time in roughly 25 years. Young women’s religious commitment has remained relatively flat at around 30 percent. The change is largely concentrated among young Republicans, while religious participation among young Democrats, especially women, has stayed the same or declined. Experts suggest factors such as social isolation, political identity, and the search for community may be influencing young men’s growing interest in religion. The gender gap reversal is mainly limited to people under 30, as older women still tend to be more religious than men.

KEY QUOTE: “With the recent surge in their attachment to religion, young men have returned to the high point of their expressed religiosity of the past 25 years, roughly tying the 43 percent found in 2000-2001. By contrast, women of all age groups and older men are at or near their historical lows.” – Gallup