Amish: Remain or Leave?

5

In previous research¹⁵I have examined the occupational shift that
has occurred in the Elkhart-LaGrange settlement and have
demonstrated that there is no difference in rates of defection when
fathers' occupations are cross-tabulated with children's membership
status. I have argued that, rather than the shift to industry being a
threat to the Amish way of life, the shift has had the opposite effect.
As one informant said, "If they all had to farm with horses, there
would be far fewer Amish men today."

Farming is a difficult occupation to enter into, especially with land
becoming scarce as a result of increased population density. There
simply is not enough land for all young people to begin married life on
farms. If a couple is able to purchase a farm, the profit margin is
narrow, especially as the young farmer faces a large debt. Given these
conditions, non-farming occupations have become important means of

making a living for many Amish men and a few Amish women.¹⁶

A second issue within the family is the impact on other brothers and
sisters when a sibling has decided to defect. No such impact is clear. In
this settlement, the number of children defecting in any given family
ranges from zero to twelve. Table 2 gives a breakdown of the number of
children defecting per family. In 11% of the total number of families,
at least two children have defected. However, if one looks exclusively
at the families with children who have left the Amish, 155 out of 407
families, or 38%, have only one child who has chosen to leave the
Amish. There is no clearly established pattern showing how a sibling's
decision to defect influences the membership decision of other siblings.
In fact, the majority of defectors appear to leave on their own, with
other brothers and sisters remaining in the faith. Further research is
needed to analyze more fully the impact of a child's life choices on
other siblings' decisions about membership .

15_{. Thomas J. Meyers, "Stress and the Amish Community in Transition" (Ph.D. diss.,}
Boston University, 1983); Meyers, "Population."

16_{. Another alternative to farming that is becoming increasingly important in the}
Elkhart-LaGrange settlement and many other communities is the small Amish-owned-
and-operated shop. Kraybill (1989) has argued that this option may be beneficial for the
Amish, while Marc Olshan, "The Opening of Amish Society: Cottage Industry as Trojan
Horse," Human Organization,50 (1991), 378-84, suggests that this pattern has some major
pitfalls.