Linking religion, education and income

Here's a dicey subject, but one that's worth examining, as NYT columnist Dave Leonhardt does in this Sunday's magazine. What it comes down to is that the most educated groups, like Hindus and Jews, are the most affluent, while the least educated are the least affluent.

The most affluent of the major religions -- including secularism -- is Reform Judaism. Sixty-seven percent of Reform Jewish households made more than $75,000 a year at the time the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life collected the data, compared with only 31 percent of the population as a whole. Hindus were second, at 65 percent, and Conservative Jews were third, at 57 percent.

On the other end are Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses and Baptists. In each case, 20 percent or fewer of followers made at least $75,000. Remarkably, the share of Baptist households making $40,000 or less is roughly the same as the share of Reform Jews making $100,000 or more. Overall, Protestants, who together are the country's largest religious group, are poorer than average and poorer than Catholics. That stands in contrast to the long history, made famous by Max Weber, of Protestant nations generally being richer than Catholic nations.

Some of the differences are cultural, writes Leonhardt, but there are other explanations. Folks who make more money can send their children to better schools.