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Protestant countries have higher employment rates than non-Protestant ones, a new study found.
The United States, the United Kingdom and Nordic countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Norway, where Protestantism is the main religion, have employment rates that are as much as six percentage points higher than countries where other religions are largely practiced.
Researchers at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom say the most likely reason for this is the Protestant virtue of hard work.
"In its early days, Protestantism promoted the virtue of hard and diligent work amongst its adherents, who judged one another by conformity to this standard," said Dr. Feldmann, a lecturer in the University’s Department of Economics & International Development.
“Originally, an intense devotion to one’s work was meant to assure oneself that one was predestined for salvation," he explained. "Although the belief in predestination did not last more than a generation or two after the Reformation, the effect on work ethics continued."
The study, based on data from 80 countries, also showed that female employment rates are about 11 percent higher in Protestant countries.
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Although religion may not have a direct impact on shaping the national culture today, Feldmann noted that the impact of living in a society that has been shaped by once powerful Protestant institutions persists today.
"The Protestant virtue of hard and diligent work has become part of a national culture of the relevant countries," he said. “Today these values and norms are transmitted by educational institutions and mass media to all people living in a Protestant country."
In countries where other religions such as Catholicism, Islam and Buddhism are practiced by the larger population, Feldmann believes they developed a culture that doesn't put as high a value on hard and diligent work and is often hostile to women working.
But some say the conclusion that Protestant religion is the main cause of higher employment rates is too simplistic.
"[T]o say that Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism and other religions do not emphasize a culture of work shows a degree of ignorance about other world religions. In the Hindu tradition for instance, we say that work is worship," said Ramesh Kallidai of the Hindu Forum of Britain, according to London’s The Times.
The research, published in the American Journal of Economics and Sociology, took into account factors such as labor market regulations, business regulations and the tax burden.
