From the global studies I’ve seen (see here for an example), declines in Christianity seem most acute in, not necessarily the most developed countries, but in the counties where people are being cared for most by the state. Consider for instance the difference in religiosity between Europe and the USA.
Click to access Gill%20Lundsgaarde%20Welfare%20Religion.pdf
STATE WELFARE SPENDING AND RELIGIOSITY
A CROSS-NATIONAL ANALYSIS
Anthony Gill and Erik Lundsgaarde
I think this has important implications for the church in the US. On the one hand, it goes some way to explaining why Christianity hadn’t declined as quickly there as in the rest of the west.
It is quite apparent that there is a strong statistical relationship between state social welfare spending and religious participation and religiosity. Countries with higher levels of per capita welfare have a proclivity for less religious participation and tend to have higher percentages of non-religious individuals. People living in countries with high social welfare spending per capita even have less of a tendency to take comfort in religion, perhaps knowing that the state is there to help them in times of crisis
Curious Christian 
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