Religiosity And The Canadian Senior

According to Statistics Canada, in 2001, 7 out of every 10 people still identified themselves as either Roman Catholic or Protestant

Roman Catholics were still the largest religious group, drawing the faith of just under 12.8 million people, or 43 percent of the population. Protestant denominations such as the Anglican and United Church, sit at 29 percent, or about 8.7 million people.

At the same time, the number of Canadians who reported religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism has increased substantially, while 16 percent of Canadians reported that they had no religion. (Census of Population: Income of individuals, families and households; religion, May 13, 2003)

Not surprisingly then, religion plays a more important role in the life of a greater proportion of seniors than of younger individuals. While between 1990 and 2003, the proportion of people reporting no religious affiliation has almost doubled regardless of age group, seniors are much less likely to have no religion than younger people. They grew up at a time when the institutionalized religion had more social influence than today. (Statistics Canada – A Portrait of Seniors in Canada, 2003)

Many more today are likely to have a spiritual belief, or conviction, than attend a physical church. Studies now show that institutionalized religion has lost social influence with most Canadians in the last forty to fifty years (Bibby, R. W., 2002. Restless Gods: The Renaissance of Religion in Canada. Toronto, Stoddard Publishing Co.)

According to data from the 2001 Statistics Canada Canadian Community Health Survey, most Canadians agree that their spiritual beliefs help them to find meaning in their life, but seniors are still more likely than younger people to attribute a great importance to spiritual beliefs in the way that they actually live their life. Attendance at religious services is much more frequent among seniors than among their younger counterparts, which means they actually practice what they believe.

Seniors also make up a relatively large share of those currently involved in religious professions, representing 14 percent of those employed in religious professions in Canada in 2000, whereas they made up less than two percent of the overall paid workforce that year. And of course they are the most likely age group to make a financial contribution to their church, synagogue or place of worship. (Canada’s Seniors; Participation in Religious Activity, No. 23, Statistics Canada)

According to a study by Michele Dillon (University of New Hampshire) and Paul Wink (Wellesley College) religiousness also increases the quality of life for elderly people. Researchers say they are more involved in social, community and creative activities, and are more giving, generous and sympathetic to the needs of others.

So it seems religion has a lot of great benefits for seniors, adding to the overall satisfaction with life (even in advanced years) and contributing to less fear of dying. None of that seems so bad now, does it?