Statistics

From XFamily - Children of God
Revision as of 05:55, 20 April 2005 by Monger (talk | contribs) (Family Membership Demographics 2003)

According to the Children of God, there were 130 communes or "colonies" in 15 countries in 1972. In 1993, 7,000 of the 10,000 members were under 18 years of age. Recent statistics by The Family International puts full-time and fellow members at just over 11,200 in over 100 countries (around 4,000 adult full-time members and 4,000 children). Some estimates have placed the total number of people that have passed through the group at 35,000. In the year 2000 the group claimed this number to be only 26,000 ("Stay on the Wall!", CM/FM#3303 June 2000).

Sociologists have observed that many organizations exaggerate their numbers. This is especially true of new religious movements (or any new movement) with respect to the number of followers. The Family International has consistently claimed many thousands of followers and their "official" count has remained around 10,000 for years (± 2,000). However, this number includes children and babies as "followers", and the number of members under the age of 15 is close to those over this age.

The Family International has significantly downplayed the numbers of their defectors. This is especially true of the second generation.

The number of Family Disciple (FD) members (previously called Charter Members or CM) has been declining year by year since 1998.

Family Demographics 2003

Family Homes
Region CM FM Total
W. Europe 85 154 239
E. Eurasia 80 34 114
Africa 55 10 65
Mideast 27 3 30
Indian Area 41 13 54
S.E. Asia 25 30 55
China/Pacific 67 31 98
Japan 52 39 91
US/Canada 81 177 258
Mexico/C. America 52 55 107
Spanish S. America 68 63 131
Brazil 85 78 163
Total 718 687 1405
Family Membership
Region CM FM Total
W. Europe 820 682 1502
E. Eurasia 726 121 847
Africa 576 33 609
Mideast 442 18 460
Indian Area 528 54 582
S.E. Asia 252 189 441
China/Pacific 586 155 741
Japan 721 179 900
US/Canada 855 806 1661
Mexico/C. America 662 256 918
Spanish S. America 801 340 1141
Brazil 1079 416 1495
Total 8048 3249 11297
Age Percentage
0-12 32%
12-15 14%
16-20 13%
21-29 12%
30s 6%
40s 15%
50+ 8%