Each generation, it seems, is a little less religious than the one before. New figures from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) suggest that although parents remain the main conduit of religious affiliation, the transmission is weakening over time.
Christmas services still draw respectable crowds. For much of the rest of the year, however, pews are increasingly empty. Church attendance in Switzerland has been declining for decades, part of a broader process of secularisation that is now entering a more visible phase.
Religion, like many social traits, is shaped by one’s surroundings. What has changed is the locus of influence. Where religion was once reinforced by the wider community, it is now largely transmitted—or not—within the family.
According to official data, some 92% of parents pass on their religious affiliation to children under 15. Among adults, more than 70% still share the same affiliation as at least one parent. Yet the inheritance is steadily diluted. On average, children are less religious than their parents, whether measured by belief, practice or identification.
This erosion has been under way for roughly a century. It unfolded quietly because secularisation tends to proceed in stages. First comes a decline in religious practice, such as regular churchgoing. Then belief itself weakens. Only later does formal affiliation fall, as people stop identifying with a denomination altogether.
Switzerland has now entered this third phase. About 30% of the population reports no religious affiliation, a share that has risen sharply in recent years. The share rises to nearly 45% among 15–24-year-olds. Among parents, the proportion without any religious identity has more than doubled in a decade, reaching around 10%. The generational shift is therefore accelerating—and becoming harder to ignore.
The pattern is not unique to Switzerland. Across much of the world, younger cohorts are less religious than their elders. There are, however, exceptions. In some countries, religion has staged a comeback in times of crisis. Russia and Georgia, for instance, saw religious revivals amid economic collapse, political upheaval or war. When secular institutions falter, religion can regain its appeal—at least for a while.
Absent such shocks, the long-term trend in Switzerland appears clear. Faith, increasingly, is a family affair. And with each generation, a slightly weaker one.
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