Less than a third of parents say they pray with their children often, survey finds

Less than a third of American parents pray with their children, according to new research from the American Bible Society, even as younger parents remain more likely than non-parents to identify as Christian.

The American Bible Society released the second installment of its “State of the Bible: USA 2026” report on Thursday. Titled “Parenting with the Bible,” the chapter examines the spiritual practices of American parents and their experiences with the Church.

The data for the chapter is based on a subset of parents within a larger sample of 2,649 U.S. adults surveyed Jan. 8 to 27. The full survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

A combined total of 29% of American parents said they pray with their children daily (16%) or often (13%). Twenty-one percent of parents surveyed said they pray with their children sometimes, while the remaining respondents either pray rarely (15%) or never (35%).

"Most American parents are open to the Bible, but behavior hasn't kept pace with that openness. They're curious but not deeply engaged," John Farquhar Plake, American Bible Society's chief innovation officer and editor-in-chief of the "State of the Bible" series, said in a statement. "These same individuals are navigating the pressures of work, family, and the sheer exhaustion of caregiving." 

While parents were less likely than non-parents to be “Bible disengaged” (46% to 59%), they were less likely to qualify as “Scripture engaged" (16% to 18%), according to the report. Plake urged churches to "intentionally invest" in parents facing a "demanding season of life."

"With support from their church, these caregivers can establish life-giving rhythms of prayer and Scripture engagement with their children, and in their own personal discipleship," he said. "Parents are carrying a heavy load, and all of us in the Church can help them carry it."

A solid majority of practicing Christians (72%) — defined as those who self-identify as Christian, attend church at least once a month and consider their faith “very important” — pray with their children either often or daily.

Meanwhile, a combined total of 14% of parents said they read the Bible with their children daily (5%) or often (9%). Twenty-five percent of those surveyed said they sometimes read the Bible with their children, while a combined total of 62% either rarely (46%) or never (16%) do so. Daily or frequent Bible reading was most common among practicing Christians (45%), followed by casual Christians (15%) and nominal Christians (7%).

When asked whether their children enjoy going to church, a majority of churchgoing parents answered in the affirmative. Seventy-two percent of churchgoing parents with children ages 2 to 5 reported that their children enjoyed attending services, along with 66% of churchgoing parents with children ages 6 to 12 and 61% of parents with children ages 13 to 17.

The survey also asked churchgoing parents whether they feel "supported by our church.”

Ninety-two percent of practicing Christian parents reported feeling supported by their church, as did 91% of Evangelical Protestants, 84% of Generation X parents, 80% of parents who attend historically black Protestant churches, 78% of mothers, 77% of casual Christian parents and 72% of parents with children ages 2 to 17.

Seventy-one percent of Generation Z parents, 69% of Catholic parents, 68% of millennial parents, 68% of fathers, 64% of parents with newborn or 1-year-old children, 59% of Mainline Protestant parents and 50% of nominal Christian or non-Christian parents said the same.

When asked about the challenges they face, 10% of the full subset of American parents identified “addressing the spiritual needs” of their children as one of their top two sources of stress.

“Addressing the spiritual needs” of their children was the second least-selected option among the sample of parents, ahead of only “other” at 3%. More commonly selected options included “managing work-family balance” (42%), “preventing fatigue or exhaustion” (27%), addressing their family’s financial needs (27%), giving their children “wise guidance or counsel” (23%), providing boundaries for their children (19%) and disciplining their children (19%).

An analysis of the religious demographics of both parents and non-parents by generation found that a significantly higher share of younger parents identify as Christian compared to younger non-parents. Among Generation Z — the youngest group of American adults born in 1997 or later — 62% of parents identify as Christian compared to 44% of non-parents. The share of Generation Z non-parent Christians is identical to the percentage of Generation Z non-parents who do not identify with any religion (44%).

Among millennials (born between 1982 and 1996), 64% of parents identify as Christian compared to 49% of non-parents. The difference in Christian identification is considerably smaller among Generation X adults (born between 1964 and 1981). Sixty-seven percent of non-parents in this age group identify as Christian, along with 63% of parents.