Listen to the opening remarks from David Quinn at the annual Iona Institute youth conference.

In his opening address at the annual Iona Institute youth conference last Saturday, David Quinn spells out the demographic facts of life to Gen Z. He told a packed room that ‘Gen Z’ (roughly corresponding to those in their 20s) is likely to have the lowest marriage rates and birth rates ever recorded and that this makes them a hinge generation. But he also said that religious practice makes people more likely to marry and have children, meaning that the religious members of Gen Z will become vitally important as they buck the wider societal downward trends.

The theme of the conference was ‘Does Gen Z have a future without religion?’