The expanding Gen Z gender gap over religion

There's a growing religious divide among younger Americans: Gen Z women of almost all faiths are more likely to be "religiously unaffiliated" than Gen Z men, an Axios review of polling data found.

Why it matters: While the overall trend of each generation being less religiously observant than their elders is decades old, the gender split is new.

• The exodus of young women can be seen in particular in white evangelical congregations, which are becoming smaller and more male.
• The faith divide also reflects a political divide: polls show young women moving left much faster than young men.

By the numbers: A survey by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found that 39% of Gen Z women identify as religiously unaffiliated, compared with 31% of Gen Z men.

• Only 8% of Gen Z women identify as white evangelicals, compared with 13% of Gen Z men.
• Just 6% of Gen Z women say they're Black Protestants, compared with 8% of Gen Z men — a surprising stat given how Black women across generations have been the drivers of the Black church.
• The proportions of young people identifying as Catholic, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Muslim are also declining but by similar rates for men and women.

State of play: Gen Z — which includes those born between 1997 and 2012 — is the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in U.S. history.

• An estimated 40.8 million Gen Zers will be eligible to vote in the November general election, one-sixth of all qualified voters. Various studies show them to be the most left-leaning generation that will be taking part.
• Gen Z also appears to be more politically engaged than previous rising generations, and that's particularly true of Gen Z women, PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman tells Axios.

Between the lines: Democrats are more religiously diverse, while Republicans are more white and Christian, the PRRI survey found.

• The falling participation rates of young women in white evangelical churches is a warning sign for the GOP, says Deckman, author of the recent book, "The Politics of Gen Z."
• "One of the biggest factors of Gen Z women leaving is the treatment of LGBTQ individuals," Deckman says.
• Gen Z women, who grew up in the #MeToo era, also are discouraged by sex abuse scandals in the evangelical and Catholic churches and the lack of leadership roles for women, Deckman says.

The intrigue: Some experts think churches need to change their structures or even theology to retain more young women, or else face extinction.

• "For the whole lifetime of Gen Z, the dominant form of Christianity has been the era of conservative evangelical dominance," Rev. Brian Kaylor, editor-in-chief of the historic Baptist journal "Word&Way" tells Axios.
• Gen Z women identify Christianity with evangelicalism, most denominations of which are politically conservative and don't allow women to become pastors or church leaders, he notes.
• Gen Z women aren't putting up with that, Kaylor says.