Nearly one in three Americans says the Covid-19 pandemic has strengthened their faith, a significantly higher percentage of people than in other countries, according to a report.
In the UK, one in ten people said their faith had strengthened, a percentage similar to the median in 14 countries surveyed by the Pew Research Center in Washington.
Only 2% of Danes and 3% of Swedes reported stronger personal faith. For Germans and Japanese, the figure was 5%.
The contrast between the US on the one hand, and Western European and East Asian countries on the other, would probably be because religion has played a stronger role in American life than in many other economically developed countries, Pew said in his report said.
White evangelical Christians in the US were more likely than other Christians to report a stronger faith due to the coronavirus pandemic, while 49% said it was growing.
Significantly higher people said the pandemic sharpened family ties. More than four in ten people in Spain, Italy, the US and the UK – countries hit early by Covid – said their relationship with immediate family members had grown stronger. Only 18% in Japan and South Korea agreed.
Pew said: “As many families in countries surveyed are confined to their homes due to homework and closed or virtual schools, more people say their relationships with immediate family members have become stronger than saying these relationships have deteriorated.”
The median in 14 countries was 32% and said relationships were getting stronger, while 8% said the opposite. In 11 countries, majorities said the pandemic did not change their relationship with their immediate family.
Pew conducted his survey last summer when Covid infections and deaths were relatively low. More than 14,000 people were interviewed by telephone.