Brits say they’re losing their faith
BRITAIN: People with religious faith are now outnumbered in Britain by a record number of nonbelievers.
The proportion of Britons declaring that they have no religion has risen from 48 per cent in 2015 to 53 per cent last year, the British Social Attitudes Survey has found.
It is only the second time that religious people have found themselves in a minority, and it is the widest gap recorded by the annual study.
In 1983, when the survey of about 3000 people was first conducted by the National Centre for Social Research, 69 per cent declared a religious faith. This dipped to 49 per cent in 2009 before recovering to 54 per cent in 2011, but is now at a record low of 47 per cent.
The fall has been driven by young people. In 2015, 62 per cent of those aged between 18 and 24 said they had no religion. This increased to 71 per cent last year.
The decline has been seen across all ages, but those with no religion remain in the minority among older groups, representing 40 per cent of 65- to 74-year-olds and 27 per cent of over-75s. The split is 50-50 among those aged 55 to 64.
Not all those with no religion are necessarily atheists. The 2008 survey was the last to ask about belief in God, and found that while 43 per cent of respondents had ‘‘no religion’’, only 21 per cent were certain they had no belief, with a further 13 per cent highly doubtful there is a god. The question will be reintroduced in 2019.
The figures make difficult reading for the Church of England. The proportion describing themselves as Anglican dropped from 30 per cent in 2000 to 15 per cent last year. This fell to just 3 per cent among 18- to 24-year-olds.
The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell, said it was troubling to see numbers declining, but the church would always share teachings on justice and peace. ‘‘We will get on with living and sharing that vision with a few dozen people, a few thousand people, or a few million people.’’
The Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev Paul Bayes, welcomed the fact that people were ‘‘more willing to be honest and say they have no religion rather than casually saying they are C of E’’.
‘‘Saying no religion is not the same as a considered atheism. People’s minds, and hearts, remain open.’’
The proportion of Catholics remained stable between 8 and 12 per cent from 1983 to 2016, with those from other Christian groups unchanged at 17 per cent. The number from unspecified ‘‘nonChristian’’ religions has risen from 3 to 6 per cent.
In 1983, 67 per cent of Britons were Christian. This is now 41 per cent. More than 40 per cent of those brought up by Christian parents have no faith by adulthood.
The National Secular Society said the figures should prompt a rethink about the places granted to bishops in the House of Lords and about church-run state schools.
- The Times