It’s an undeniable fact that parents have a profound effect on their children’s future successes.  They influence many of their worldviews and habits, while providing them with opportunities to learn and grow. We’ve blogged before about the disparities that exist between poor parents and those parents who have needed resources and capital.  Unlike parents who are materially successful themselves, the parents of children born into poverty often don’t have the resources, time or energy to counsel their children as intensely. Hence, poverty often continues through the generations. We recently blogged about this subject.

Yet there is always hope for the future. The U.S. Catholic article we shared promoted the work of St. Ann’s Infant and Maternity Home, a Catholic non-profit that was helping young, single mothers complete their degrees and find jobs.   However, the article never explicitly mentioned what research shows may be another key factor for the success of the woman emerging from this program and their children – faith.

In the past few years, research has suggested that religious youth often have many advantages over non-religious youth, including stronger bonds with their parents, higher self-esteem and more community involvement. These were the findings of the National Study of Youth & Religion, an intensive project led by Notre Dame professor of sociology Christian Smith.  The research was funded from 2001 through December 2010, and Smith has published the project’s findings in three books, including “Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers” (2006, Oxford University Press), which sold 20,000 copies in 2009.  In reviewing “Soul Searching,” the New York Post wrote the following:

“Youth groups, role models, service activities and cultural rituals of religious institutions all seem to help youth lead more healthy, moral and happy lives. This book goes a long way toward explaining the extent of this phenomenon and which religions seem to be accomplishing these benefits most.”

Furthermore, the results of a September 2007 study, titled “The Role of Religious and Social Organizations in the Lives of Disadvantaged Youth,” strongly suggested that religious involvement has a stronger potential to offset the effects of poverty on youth from ”disadvantaged” families than involvement in any other institution. The study authors, economics professors from Tufts, Wisconsin-Madison and Harvard universities, defined “disadvantaged” by factors like family income, the parents’ levels of education, and “child characteristics including parental assessments of the child.”  The study monitored the impact of religion on more than 20,000 children 13 to 15 years after intial interviews were conducted on religious involvement. Their conclusion follows:

“Overall, we find strong evidence that youth with religiously active parents are less affected later in life by childhood disadvantage than youth whose parents did not frequently attend religious services.”

But the study authors were unsure whether these more positive outcomes (in particular, higher high school graduation rates and the decision to not smoke) resulted from religious organizations ”actively intervening in the lives of disadvantaged youth (through tutoring, mentoring, or financial assistance),” or simply “providing the youth with motivation, values, or attitudes that lead to better outcomes.”

In a commentary on the study, New York Times blogger Melissa Lafsky voiced some doubts about the influence of religion itself, mentioning other possible psychological and sociological factors: “Of course, a parent’s decision to practice a religion may coincide with other traits like self-discipline, community involvement, and mentoring skills, all of which will likely affect a child’s upbringing.”  While this is true, to reduce religious involvement to self-discipline may be missing something as well: God’s love. The church may also provide a loving community for children. We’ve blogged before about how a parent’s love can counteract the adverse health effects of poverty.

This is why organizations like Teen Mother Mother Choices International(TMCI), a Chicago-area nonprofit which has served teenage mothers since 1989, uses a Christian holistic model to minister to young women ”to create stable families, live independent of government assistance, and raise children to replicate that full, productive life.” The organization reports that no graduate of its program has gone on to depend on welfare.

At Here’s Life, we’ve seen God work in the inner-city in miraculous ways. Our adult and youth development programs use practical job-training and educational tools to cultivate success.  But, an essential ingredient in all of our ministry programs and outreaches is a hopeful heart, softened by the grace of God’s love and the powerful gospel message.

Here’s Life Inner City does not endorse the opinions presented in the documents, web sites, etc. we link to, nor do we endorse the organizations to whom we may refer/link to. All material is presented on this blog for the purposes of education and igniting discussion.