How Working-Class Life Is Killing Americans, in Charts
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
>People without college degrees are also less likely to attend church
So I looked into it:
Moreover, the majority of American adults (71%) identify as Christians. And among Christians, those with higher levels of education appear to be just as religious as those with less schooling, on average. In fact, highly educated Christians are more likely than less-educated Christians to say they are weekly churchgoers.
https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/26/in-america-does-more-edu...
It's also good to note that the increase in college grads doesn't offset this trend.
"Younger Americans are more likely to have attained a four-year degree than older groups. Among Americans between the ages of 25 to 34, 37 percent have at least a bachelor’s degree. Among those 55 and older, just under 30 percent have a four-year degree." (Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/326995-census-more-...)
It seems like the reasons suggested have merit: the numbers start to rise steadily after trade deals that facilitate globalization.
I noticed that one of the reasons mentioned seemed a bit weak:
> “Many people used to associate the meaning of their life with what their corporation or institution was doing,” says Deaton, a Nobel laureate in economics. Miners and factory workers identified themselves as such. Warehouse workers, especially those whose paycheck is signed by a staffing company, rarely feel the same connection.
I wonder if social media and entertainment could be a partial contributor to the numbers increase. With how distracting and/or addictive internet entertainment is nowadays, it's easy for people to lose enough time to become "trapped" and unable to solve their problems.
Persons without a college degree die more often of suicide/substance abuse, marry less, are less happy and suffer more chronic pain than those with college degree. Here college degree appears to be a proxy for income and income inequality being the main driver of these effects.