Religion in Britain - Social Attitudes Survey 2010

[afleitch]

The British Social Attitudes Survey for 2010 has bene released. This is a national survey that has been running for 30 years. I thought it would be interesting to share some of the findings on faith and religion.

http://www.natcen.ac.uk/study/british-social-attitudes-28th-report

As of 2010:

50% of Britons have no religion
20% are Anglican/CofE
15% are 'Other Christian
9% are Catholic

and 6% hold a non Christian religious belief.

For the Anglicans, identification has fallen from 40% in 1983 to 20% in 2010. For Catholics, it has been a little more stable from 10% to 9%. For 'Other Christian' they have fallen from 17% to 15%, Non-Christian belief has risen from 2% to 6% and those with say they have no religion is up from 30% to 50%

14% attend religious services weekly. 56% never attend.

Those who do hold a religion are usually older. 64% of 18-24 year olds hipster band tee wearing... do not hold religious beliefs. Amongst 55-64% the figure is 47% however amongst 65+ it's only 28%. The survey concludes that; "There is little evidence that substantial numbers find religion as they get older." Figures for those brought up in a household with no religion indicate that only 5% of them find religion later in life.

Amongst those who identified with a political party, 44% of Conservatives had no religion compared to 46% of Labour supporters and 55% of Lib Dems

Of course the more things change, the more things stay the same. While 56% never attend religious services now, even in 1983 the figure was 49%

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Note for anyone unfamiliar with the way the BSAS works: in this case respondents are asked whether they have a religion (I don't know the exact wording) and if the answer is 'yes', then more information is asked for. This is very different from the way various surveys run by the ONS (including the biggest survey of all) work, and the tendency has been for very different figures to be produced. This isn't because one method is more 'accurate' than the other, but because (in practice) they are measuring slightly (but clearly) different things, and in a different way.

Of course the more things change, the more things stay the same. While 56% never attend religious services now, even in 1983 the figure was 49%

That would be because the main change over the past thirty years has been the death (effectively) of Anglicanism as an important marker of cultural identification (it used to be one of the main markers of a certain sort Englishness, as you know but others reading this might not) rather than a massive shift in belief in a wider sense. Which raises more questions that it answers, obviously. Mind you, generational change explains most of that; to take one example, even in traditional rural strongholds of Anglicanism, the CofE does not actually have a major presence in its own schools (or at least, it certainly didn't in the 1990s!), and it absolutely did forty, fifty years ago (to say nothing of the period before 1944) and that obviously has a huge impact over the long term.

Which raises a further question: have similar Scotland-specific surveys shown the same thing with the CoS? If not (though I'd be surprised if that were the case) why not? And so on.

[Lucius Quintus Cincinatus Lamar]

For the Anglicans, identification has fallen from 40% in 1983 to 20% in 2010.

That would be because the main change over the past thirty years has been the death (effectively) of Anglicanism as an important marker of cultural identification (it used to be one of the main markers of a certain sort Englishness, as you know but others reading this might not) rather than a massive shift in belief in a wider sense. Which raises more questions that it answers, obviously. Mind you, generational change explains most of that; to take one example, even in traditional rural strongholds of Anglicanism, the CofE does not actually have a major presence in its own schools (or at least, it certainly didn't in the 1990s!), and it absolutely did forty, fifty years ago (to say nothing of the period before 1944) and that obviously has a huge impact over the long term.

I was more surprised by the 40% CoE affiliation in 1983 than anything else.  It seemed low.  It would seem in 1983 the percentage of citizens from Muslim countries would have been much lower and 1983 would be around (if memory serves me correct) the time of Diana's wedding.  Figured it would have been well over 50%, maybe as high as 65-70%.

[afleitch]

Which raises a further question: have similar Scotland-specific surveys shown the same thing with the CoS? If not (though I'd be surprised if that were the case) why not? And so on.

Which raises a further question: have similar Scotland-specific surveys shown the same thing with the CoS? If not (though I'd be surprised if that were the case) why not? And so on.

The Scottish Social Attitudes survey started in 1999 with the first full survey in 2000. Religious ID figures were then:

CofS 36%
Catholic 12%
Other Christian 11%
Non Christian 1%
No Religion 40%

The figures for 2009 (the most recent I can get access to)

CofS 27%
Catholic 10%
Other Christian 12%
Non Christian 1%
No Religion 50%

So, as in the rest of the UK there is a huge drift away from the established church to 'no religion' The identification with CofS is higher than England (but falling)

For Wales I could only get the 2003 Life and Times Study which uses the same methodology

CofE 27%
RC - 8%
Other Christian 19%
Non Christian 2%
No Religion 44%