Abstract:

The significance of religiosity in well-being is rapidly gaining attention. Personal religiosity may provide a subjective utility to the individual and effect positively, but not associated with the well-being of the family. Higher religiosity would require time.  The present study have examined the influence of personal religiosity and preaching-related absence of the household head on his family's economic well-being. The data was collected through a questionnaire from 385 Muslim families. The statistical techniques applied are; ordinary least square and Ordered Logistic regression models. The key findings suggest that religiosity and preaching-related absence have a strong impact on the family's economic well-being, however, the significance of preaching-related absence on family economic well-being is much stronger than personal religiosity. The results of the study will provide assistance in guiding the policy makers in enhancing the well-being of the people.

Key Words:

Religiosity, Economic Well-being, Preaching Related Absence, Ordinary Least Square, Ordered Logistic Regression

Introduction and Literature

Religion has an important place in the lives of many people. The World Happiness Report indicated religion as an important factor that can positively affect wellbeing (Helliwell, Layard & Sachs, 2012). According to the World Values Survey (Inglehart, 2000), 83% of the people interviewed believe in God, a larger part of the world population is affiliated with one or another religion. Thus, religion cannot be ruled out of the lives of the people, it is an important part of the culture and has a strong influence on every aspect of life including their well-being. Though, religion has consistently proven to have a significant impact on the wellbeing of people but the most significant impact may be seen in the form of their personal religiosity. Various social and economic determinants of well-being have been studied so far but among them, religiosity has gained the attention of the researchers of many disciplines like economics, sociology and psychology (George et al., 20002; 200; Deiner et al., 1999; Emmons et al., 1998; Levin et al., 1996; Ellison, 1995; Mickley et al., 1995). Religiosity and well-being have mostly reported to have a positive relationship (Diener et al., 2011; Abdel-Khalek, 2010; Noraini & Noor, 2008; Green & Yoon, 2004; Hackney & Sanders, 2003; Ellison & Levin, 1998). Highly religious people are reported to have a more optimistic approach towards their lives (Ramsay et al., 2019; Vishkin et al., 2019; 2016).  

The impact of religiosity on wellbeing is examined in various dimensions. Personal religiosity significantly affects personal wellbeing and the wellbeing of others, but as like every good and service providing a utility (satisfaction) to the user (consumer) religiosity also costs something, and that is, time. The higher religiosity would require more time to be actively involved in the religious participation. A more religious individual would invest more of his time into religious activities in order to gain more mental satisfaction or subjective wellbeing from his religious actions. This allocation of time has no doubt a positive outcome in the form of enhanced subjective well-being for the individual who is involved. But it cannot be denied that being a part of society, one cannot live in isolation and consequently his acts are going to affect others as well. The incorporation of religion into one's life may results an impact on others' lives as well, though it may be positive or negative, subject to the conditions and circumstances.  Thus, personal religiosity may considerably influence the wellbeing of other associated people. 

To sum up, the personal religiosity may have an impact on personal wellbeing and in some cases on family wellbeing in the form of a child's development, moral values and family relationship, but its role in influencing family economic wellbeing is missing in the literature. Similarly, the research work on the impact of the absence of household head or father on the subjective wellbeing of the child and other family members is done, but the absence is taken in the form of migration, separation, and death. Thus, this study aims to fill a significant gap in research through analyzing the impact of personal religiosity and preaching-related absence of the household head on the family economic wellbeing.   Fig. 1 below indicates the summary of the various dynamics regarding the literature on religiosity in economic dominion, while fig. 2 exhibits the literature on parental absence and wellbeing.






Research Question

? What is the impact of the personal religiosity of the individual on the economic well-being of his family members? 

? How the preaching related absence from home may affect the economic wellbeing of the family? 

Objectives

? To examine the influence of the personal religiosity of the household head on the economic well-being of the family. 

? To estimate the influence of frequent preaching related absence of the household head from home on the economic wellbeing of the family.

? To examine the joint effect of religiosity and duration of absence from home on family wellbeing.

Model 1 Religiosity and Frequency of Absence on Wellbeing

Religiosity is measured using the basic religiosity model given by Glock and Stark in 1968 with certain modifications. They measured it through the five important dimensions. The dimension of practice comprises questions relating to actions set by religion such as prayer (Nimaz), reciting the Quran (Tilawat), performing nawafil and giving Zakat and charity. Questions related to economic wellbeing have covered the information regarding availability of material goods and facilities at the home including expenditure on health and education etc. 

In order to analyze the impact of personal religiosity on family economic wellbeing, the regression equation is: 

EWBf = ?0+ ?1rel + ?2frqabs + ?3Inc + ?4emply + ?5qual + ?6age +?i

?0 =Intercept 

 ?s = Slope of the variable

EWBf = Economic Wellbeing of the family

rel = Personal religiosity of the household head

Arabs = frequency of preaching related absence from home

Inc = household income

emply= employment status of the household head

qual = maximum qualification of the household head 

age = age of the household head

   µi = Error term 

Model 2 Interaction between Personal Religiosity and Frequency of Absence 

The joint impact of religiosity and preaching related absence is examined to know if the interaction between them would add further insight in understanding the impact on family economic wellbeing. Therefore, an interaction term as (religiosity*frequency) in the regression model is introduced as: 

EWBf= ?0+ ?1rel + ?2frqabs + ?3Inc + ?4emply + ?5qual + ?6age + +?7rel*frq+ ?i

Results and Discussion

Regressing for the economic well-being as

dependent variable, the estimated probabilities are shown in Table 2.  It is very essential to mention here that, the sign of the coefficient from estimating the ordered logistic regression do not accurately determine the relationship path of the variables and may be misleading.  Therefore, the predicted probabilities of the variables need to be computed for better understanding. Table 2 shows that, the probability of the family of being on lower economic well-being with a more religious household head is -0.37. Or in other words, the change in probability of being on higher economic wellbeing when the household head goes from "lower" to "higher" religiosity, decreases 37 percent, and is significant with P<0.049.  For frequency of absence, it is to say that as the head of the family moves form lower to higher preaching related absence from home, the likelihood of the family on being higher economic wellbeing is -1.81. Similarly, as the household income increases from lower to higher, the probability of the family being on a higher EWB increases by 25%. The change in probability of higher family EWB, when the household head moves from lower qualification to a higher level,  the probability of family EWB increases by 67%. It may be said that personal religiosity, frequency of absence, income and qualification of the household head have a significant impact on influencing his family EWB, however, the age and employment status are insignificant in the present model. 

Table 2. Results of Ordered logit model (EWB)

Variable	dy/dx	S.E	z	P>|z|
Personal religiosity	-.3762213	.19082	-1.97	0.049**
Frequency of absence	-1.815722	.83726	-2.17	0.030**
Household income	.2507219	.06981	3.59	0.000***
Employment status	.0115389	.13863	0.08	0.934
Qualification	.676501	.10764	6.28	0.000***
Age	.0985997	.21086	0.47	0.640

Note: dy/dx is the discrete change from the base level

Table 3. Results of Ordered logit Model with Interaction Effect (EWB)

Variable	dy/dx	S.E	z	P>|z|
Personal religiosity	-2944909	.1527	-1.93	0.054*
Frequency of absence	-.5099159	.20118	-2.53	0.011***
Monthly income	.4896465	.12004	4.08	0.000***
Employment status	.1783433	.10452	1.71	0.088*
Qualification	.2143843	.16234	1.32	0.187
Age	.0793868	.10638	0.75	0.455
Religiosity*frequency of absence	.189519	.06919	2.74	0.006***

Note: dy/dx is the discrete change from the base level.

 




Table 3 explains the regression model with the interaction effect between frequency of absence and personal religiosity. Regressing for the economic wellbeing of the family as the dependent variable, the probability of higher family economic wellbeing decreased by .29% as the personal religiosity of the household head increased. Similarly, the EWB expected to be decreased by .50% as the frequency of absences moves from lower to higher level. Now, turning to the interaction effect of religiosity and frequency of absence, it was found to be highly significant as like the basic model 1. The probability of the family being on a higher EWB level decreased by .18% as the personal religiosity and frequency of absence increased together.  It is important to note that the sign of the value of the marginal effects of the interaction term is positive here, it shows that the impact of religiosity on EWB will extend as the frequency of absence is increased, and the effect of frequency of absence on EWB will get increased as personal religiosity is increased. As expected, Income appeared to have a positive impact on the EWB. The probability of higher EWB increased by .48% as the household income increased. Employment status has also a positive impact on EWB. The likelihood of higher EWB is .17% increased as the respondent moves from non-earning status to earning status. Qualification and age found to be insignificant. 

Effect of Personal Religiosity on Economic wellbeing

The findings of the study proposed that weakly significant differences exist between the economic wellbeing of the families headed by more religious and less religious persons. It is confirmed from the results that personal religiosity is somehow important in affecting the family's economic wellbeing. Results of the present study cannot be directly compared with any study as no such work is available that have examined the influence of personal religiosity on family economic wellbeing explicitly. It is worthwhile to mention here that, the previous studies have examined the relationship of religiosity in the context of income and poverty status (Rulindo & Mardhatillah, 2011), economic growth (Galbraith & Galbraith, 2007), economic performance, may be individual or at national level (Noland, 2005), stages of career (Ismail et. al., 2004), economic achievements (Martes and Rodriguez, 2004; Champion, 2003), entrepreneurial development in individual (Vitell et. al. 2006; Candland, 2001) and business performance (Honig, 1988), whereas the current study is the very first that have tested the relationship of personal religiosity with family wellbeing. 

Looking at the results of the previous studies on personal religiosity and wellbeing from an economic point of view, it is shown that most of them have reported the relationship between personal religiosity and personal wellbeing as positive (Diener et al., 2011; Abdel-Khalek, 2010; Noraini & Noor, 2008; Green & Yoon, 2004; Hackney & Sanders, 2003; Ellison & Levin, 1998). If the direction of the relationship of the current study is compared with those of the past one, it is inconsistent with them as the relationship of religiosity in the present study has found to be negative with economic well-being; however, the previous studies have tested the relationship with personal wellbeing rather than with family economic wellbeing. It may be said that the relationship of personal religiosity with personal economic outcomes is positive, as religiosity gives a boost to motivation and produce better results, while personal religiosity of the person results a negative impact on his family economic wellbeing.  This relationship may be well justified as the involvement of the household head into religious activities like preaching would require most of his time to be invested into religious actions, additionally, as personal religiosity is an important determinant of religious participation (Alston & McIntosh, 1979) therefore it would cause a frequent absence from home and consequently his economic performance may be affected negatively, resulting a decline in the economic wellbeing of the family members. 

Effect of Frequency of Absence on Economic wellbeing

Results regarding the impact of frequency of absence of the household head on economic wellbeing illustrate that it has a substantial role in affecting the economic wellbeing of the family members. The absence of the household head may results in positive or negative consequences, subject to the source of absence. Regarding the economic impact of preaching-related absence of the household head on family wellbeing, the literature is nil, however, the results of the studies regarding the household head/father's absence from home due to earning purpose and its economic impact on the left behind may be cited to support our results. They usually have concluded a positive association between the absence and family economic wellbeing or quality of life (Haider et. al., 2017; Sadaf et al. 2010; Khan et.al., 2009; Sattar, 2009; Hamman, 2007) however, the long absence may be negatively associated with the economic wellbeing of the family members (Chae et. al, 2016). The relationship between the frequency of absence and the economic wellbeing of the family has come negative in the present study, the longer the absence, the lower will be EWB of the family members. The results are consistent with Chae (2016) in respect of its negative relationship.   But it must be born in mind that the migrant household heads/fathers usually send back remittances to their families left behind, while the household heads gone out of homes for preaching/Tableegh do not send any monetary assistance to their families while absent, therefore both type of absence cannot be compared directly, nor their impact on the families left behind, however, the negative association of the preaching related absence may be supported with the results of these studies.  As mentioned earlier, the absence of the household head would ultimately cause financial problems and economic hardships for the family member as the head being responsible for the financial support, therefore the EWB of the family would be affected undesirably due to absence (Chae, 2016; Heymann et al. 2009; Schmeer, 2009). It is concluded that the frequency of preaching related absence of the household head has a significant impact on the economic wellbeing of his family members. 

Interaction Effect of Religiosity and Preaching related Absence

The results regarding the interaction between personal religiosity and frequency of absence shows the impact as similar to the results of model-1(without interaction) where the association between frequency of absence and religiosity was tested with the three equations of wellbeing. Similar to that, the interaction effect of personal religiosity and frequency of absence is also significant. It is found that when the household heads are more religious, the effect of frequency of absence on the wellbeing of the families is higher as compared to the household heads that were less religious. As similar, when the household heads are more frequently absent from home, the effect of religiosity is much greater than when they are less frequently absent. The higher religiosity causes more absence or more time allocation to religion for active religious participation (Azzi and Ronald Ehrenberg, 1975) therefore the two variables are positively correlated and their combined impact will be enhanced. The findings indicate that higher religiosity and frequency of absence together cause a more undesirable well-being level to the families. Additionally, the joint effect of higher religiosity and frequency of absence on wellbeing is much more significant in magnitude than the separate effect of religiosity and frequency of absence on family wellbeing.  

Policy Recommendations/Implications

To enhance the welfare and wellbeing of the general public is the foremost aim of every government. The global concept of wellbeing is now modifying from the traditional measures of economic wellbeing i.e., income or GDP, as they are not the whole reflection of wellbeing in a real sense, the wellbeing is actually beyond it.  No doubt, the importance of income and other financial indicators cannot be ruled out in measuring wellbeing but it must be supplemented with the subjective measures so as to have a whole picture in a single glance; it would assist the policy makers to design and implement suitable programs to enhance the economic wellbeing of the people. 

A very large number of people are actively involved in Tableegh overall the world including Muslim and non-Muslim states. Every year, a huge number of people from everywhere in Pakistan go out on a national and international journey with the purpose of Tableegh leaving their families behind them.  Being an Islamic state, the execution of Tableegh cannot be stopped as it is an important and essential religious activity needed to be performing in every society to eradicate the evils already prescribed by the Quran and Sunnah and to bring religious and social reforms within it, nor can it be considered as a hurdle to the wellbeing of the families and society as a whole as it somehow contributes to the industry of religious tourism as well (e.g. Lloyd 2014; Timothy and Boyd 2003; Swatos and Tomasi 2002; Olsen and Timothy 2002; 1999; Schelhe 1999; Stoddard and Morinis 1997; Vukoni? 1996; Jackowski and Smith 1992; Morinis 1992; Turner and Turner 1978) instead, some practical steps must be needed to take in order to facilitate the concerned families and to make this important religious activity as a source of adding to the economic wellbeing of the households and nations. The findings of the study would help to contribute in guiding the policymakers regarding enhancing the well-being of the people.  In Pakistani society, the head of the family plays a major role in uplifting the economic wellbeing of the family members, as most families are financially dependent on their male child (Adhikari et al. 2011), therefore in order to enhance the economic wellbeing of the families who's heads are actively involved in preaching/Tableegh, some specific policies must be formed in favor of them.  In order to enhance the economic well-being of the families, their income must be increased. The policies in favor of families with children in working age should be framed. The policymakers must intervene to increase the employment rate within these families by providing suitable job opportunities to compensate for the negative influences of the absence on the economic well-being of the families. 

For families with very young children, an alternative policy in favor of spouses aimed to create employment opportunities and some skill-based jobs for illiterate females should be designed so as to enable them to overcome the financial discrepancies in absence of her husband. Moreover, the social services of child care and first aid must be supplied at the workplace by the state. The policies in favor of families with almost older members should be designed in a way to provide some financial assistance from the state; the organizations of Auqaf and Bait ul Maal can play a vital role in this regard. Moreover, other welfare organizations can also add to it.  The findings on Education suggest that it is highly significant for improving the economic and subjective economic well-being of the families, and adds to their quality of life. Unfortunately, the conventional education system of Pakistan is not in according to cope with the existent challenges of unemployment due to the rapid shifts in global markets. Another issue is the lake of awareness and blind follow of others without making an analysis of our own capabilities. To cope with the issue, the educational policies should be modified in favor of providing practical knowledge and skills along with some technical capability to the people to enable them to initiate some small-scale business at their own immediately after completing the formal degree, and would not be stuck in the non-earning phase.

Policy Recommendations/Implications

To enhance the welfare and wellbeing of the general public is the foremost aim of every government. The global concept of wellbeing is now modifying from the traditional measures of economic wellbeing i.e., income or GDP, as they are not the whole reflection of wellbeing in a real sense, the wellbeing is actually beyond it.  No doubt, the importance of income and other financial indicators cannot be ruled out in measuring wellbeing but it must be supplemented with the subjective measures so as to have a whole picture in a single glance; it would assist the policy makers to design and implement suitable programs to enhance the economic wellbeing of the people. 

A very large number of people are actively involved in Tableegh overall the world including Muslim and non-Muslim states. Every year, a huge number of people from everywhere in Pakistan go out on a national and international journey with the purpose of Tableegh leaving their families behind them.  Being an Islamic state, the execution of Tableegh cannot be stopped as it is an important and essential religious activity needed to be performing in every society to eradicate the evils already prescribed by the Quran and Sunnah and to bring religious and social reforms within it, nor can it be considered as a hurdle to the wellbeing of the families and society as a whole as it somehow contributes to the industry of religious tourism as well (e.g. Lloyd 2014; Timothy and Boyd 2003; Swatos and Tomasi 2002; Olsen and Timothy 2002; 1999; Schelhe 1999; Stoddard and Morinis 1997; Vukoni? 1996; Jackowski and Smith 1992; Morinis 1992; Turner and Turner 1978) instead, some practical steps must be needed to take in order to facilitate the concerned families and to make this important religious activity as a source of adding to the economic wellbeing of the households and nations. The findings of the study would help to contribute in guiding the policymakers regarding enhancing the well-being of the people.  In Pakistani society, the head of the family plays a major role in uplifting the economic wellbeing of the family members, as most families are financially dependent on their male child (Adhikari et al. 2011), therefore in order to enhance the economic wellbeing of the families who's heads are actively involved in preaching/Tableegh, some specific policies must be formed in favor of them.  In order to enhance the economic well-being of the families, their income must be increased. The policies in favor of families with children in working age should be framed. The policymakers must intervene to increase the employment rate within these families by providing suitable job opportunities to compensate for the negative influences of the absence on the economic well-being of the families. 

For families with very young children, an alternative policy in favor of spouses aimed to create employment opportunities and some skill-based jobs for illiterate females should be designed so as to enable them to overcome the financial discrepancies in absence of her husband. Moreover, the social services of child care and first aid must be supplied at the workplace by the state. The policies in favor of families with almost older members should be designed in a way to provide some financial assistance from the state; the organizations of Auqaf and Bait ul Maal can play a vital role in this regard. Moreover, other welfare organizations can also add to it.  The findings on Education suggest that it is highly significant for improving the economic and subjective economic well-being of the families, and adds to their quality of life. Unfortunately, the conventional education system of Pakistan is not in according to cope with the existent challenges of unemployment due to the rapid shifts in global markets. Another issue is the lake of awareness and blind follow of others without making an analysis of our own capabilities. To cope with the issue, the educational policies should be modified in favor of providing practical knowledge and skills along with some technical capability to the people to enable them to initiate some small-scale business at their own immediately after completing the formal degree, and would not be stuck in the non-earning phase.

Conclusion and Future Research Recommendations

Religion is having a vital role in the lives of people; its importance cannot be denied. Although religion may have a significant impact on well-being but the construct of religiosity has become a key factor in determining the well-being of people. Numerous studies have focused on the significance of religiosity in determining the subjective well-being of people in the form of their psychological, social, and emotional well-being (Ramsay et al., 2019; Vishkin et al., 2016; Krause, 2015; Hoverd & Sibley, 2013; Hamburg & Trier, 2012; Diener et al., 2011; Abdel-Khalek, 2010; Noraini & Noor, 2008; Green & Yoon, 2004; Hackney & Sanders, 2003; Ellison & Levin, 1998). The present study has filled the grey area by examining the influence of religiosity and preaching-related absence of the household head on the family's economic wellbeing, which was never carried out before in any field of research. 

The present study has laid a foundation for additional research in the area of religiosity, preaching-related absence and well-being.  The current study is carried out in Pakistan, it will be of greater interest to the researchers to conduct the such study in other Islamic countries and make a country-level comparison of the impact on family wellbeing. Moreover, the same impact may be tested within non-Islamic states like India, China, and other countries where the Islamic preaching movement Tableegh has already spread in a vast level to get some interesting results. The present study has gathered the data from the head of families who are involved in Tableegh as male, future research may be conducted about the same impact over the families who's heads are female and are actively involved in preaching activities.

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