February 17, 1999

U.S. women growing more
religious and conservative
___PRINCETON, N.J. (RNS)--American women are increasingly describing themselves as religious and as conservative in their opinions on social issues, according to a new study funded by more liberal interests.
___The results of the poll, commissioned by the New York-based Center for Gender Equality, represent "seismic shifts" in women's attitudes about the relationship between politics and religion and controversial social issues such as abortion rights and birth control, said the center's president, Faye Wattleton.
___Seventy-five percent of women in the national poll said religion plays a "very important" role in their lives compared with 69 percent who felt that way in 1996. And half of the Christian women surveyed described themselves as "born again" or evangelical, an increase of 7 percent over 1996.
___Women were evenly divided among those who felt politicians should be guided by religious values and those who supported a clear division between politics and religion. In 1996, 63 percent of women thought "religion and politics shouldn't mix."
___While most respondents felt women should have equal treatment in jobs, education and bank loans, the number of women who favored the most restrictive policies on abortion increased from 45 percent two years ago to 53 percent today.
___The growing conservatism among women has paralleled the rise of political activism by the Religious Right, said Wattleton, who cited as evidence increased political lobbying and participation in television debates by conservative religious leaders and the mass distribution of voter guides by the Christian Coalition in the past two national elections.
___Neither Wattleton nor the survey's religious advisers could explain the reasons for the shift in women's attitudes.
___The poll also found that:
___ The majority of women who attend religious services say religious teachings have had no influence over personal decisions such as whether to use birth control, whether and when to have children, what family decisions should be left to their husbands and whether to work.
___ Thirty-six percent of women agree with the Southern Baptist Convention resolution that "wives should submit graciously to the leadership of their husbands" and almost half (48 percent) of women feel it is better for society if the man is the achiever outside of the home and the woman takes care of home and family.
___ Forty-four percent of women believe divorce should be more difficult to obtain.
___ Seventy-three percent of women support the availability of birth control information in public schools, but the percentage of women who strongly oppose it increased from 9 percent in 1996 to 14 percent.
___The study, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates, was based on interviews with 1,000 women, a majority of them Christian, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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