Who is Baptized? A Study of Socioeconomic, Regional and Gender Differences in Child Baptism in the Church of Sweden, 2005 and 2015

Abstract

In less than 15 years, child baptism has gone from being a mainstream tradition to a minority practice. This decline is a result of both high unaffiliation, especially with the Church of Sweden, and a more diversified religious society due to migration. Using microdata from parents of children born in 2005 and 2015, we were able to discern that differences in the practice of child baptism in the Church of Sweden are positively associated with the parents’ relation to the church, residence in rural areas, and income. Our LPM analysis shows that the probability of a child being baptized are mainly determined by the parents’ relation to the church when controlling for all the other variables. The most influential factors are the mother’s affiliation and an urban lifestyle. Parents’ marital status and socioeconomic circumstances have a strong effect on the decision to baptize a child, therefore affecting who becomes a future member of the church.