April 28, 2025

The Burge Report: Does Homeschooling Change the Political and Religious Views of Children?

25 minutes

We’ve all heard the stereotypes of homeschooled children. But what does the data say? Ryan Burge joins Sam on the show to discuss the facts. The co-hosts also discuss implications for the church.

Homeschooled children are twice as likely to attend church weekly in college as those who attended public school.

Homeschooled children are twice as likely to be Protestant Christians compared to children in other public, private, charter, and magnet schools.

Surprisingly, the average homeschooled child grows up to be independent regarding political partisanship, and they are middle of the road on political ideology. There is no evidence that they are far right.

About 54% of the homeschooled students say they are conservative (and 20% say they are very conservative). Some put themselves on the left side of the continuum, though. 31% of Christian homeschoolers said they were liberal.

As homeschooled children become adults, they are more likely to be committed to a church, slightly more conservative, but not particularly partisan in their politics.

Resources:

Upward Running

Bible for Moms

Tyndale House Publishers

Ryan Burge

“The Religion and Politics of Students Who Were Homeschooled” by Ryan Burge

“The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?” by Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan Burge (affiliate link)

Church Answers Platinum Membership

FREE Research Report! New Surprising Insights

The Hope Initiative

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By Thom Rainer

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