Does Religiosity Make Communities More Economically Resilient? Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

We study whether religiosity is associated with greater economic resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using county-level data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages and the Bureau of Economic Analysis from 2016 to 2024, together with the Religion Census in 2010 and 2020, we examine whether counties with larger pre-pandemic increases in Christian adherence experienced different post-pandemic trajectories in employment, wages, establishments, and real output. We find that counties with greater growth in religiosity between 2010 and 2020 exhibited significantly stronger resilience in employment, establishment counts, and real output during and after the pandemic, with weaker and less consistent effects for real wages. We complement these findings with cross-country evidence from the Gallup World Poll covering more than 140 countries, showing that countries with stronger pre-pandemic growth in religiosity also had more favorable post-pandemic trajectories in thriving, perceived social support, stress, and worry. The findings are consistent with the view that religiosity may operate as a distinct form of resilience capital during major shocks.

Keywords: COVID-19, Christianity, Labor Market, Religiosity, Social Capital, Gallup World Poll, Faith, Resilience