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Religion Pays: Economist Jonathan Gruber has found a statistical correlation between attending church and a Better Economic Outcome. Published in a National Bureau of Economic Research paper, he finds a household with double the normal rate of religious attendance has 9.1% more income. That extra religious activity correlates with 16% less than usual welfare participation, 4% lower odds of being divorced and 4.4% higher likelihood of being married.

Gruber says he neither validates nor disputes God has anything to do with the extra prosperity. According to ABC News, 40% of Americans attend church in a typical week. Polls indicate 95% profess belief in the existence of God or a universal spirit. Americans gave $88 billion to religious groups in ‘04, or more than a third of all charitable giving. (PWB 11/25/05)

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