Keziah Cho
The UK has historically been a Christian country and, to this day, aspects of faith still permeate everyday life. Most students are no strangers to weekly hymns and sermons, and there are still nearly three times as many church buildings in the country as there are supermarkets. Data published on 29th November 2022 from the 2021 census of England and Wales, however, shows that change is likely on the horizon.
The data shows that less than half of the population— 46.2% —now identify as Christian, a steep decline from 59.3% in 2011. This is an unprecedented figure in the history of the UK, but it hardly counts as a shock; even before the 2021 census statistics were published, numerous surveys had already shown that the faith was in decline.
A survey carried out by the Benedict XVI Centre revealed a decrease of 12 percentage points in the UK’s Christian population from 1983 to 2015, and the 2011 census itself revealed a decrease in the Christian population from around 72% in 2001 to 58%. In other words, this has been an ongoing trend for several decades, and the reasons behind this phenomenon may be more complicated than initially meets the eye.
Reasons Behind the Decline in Christianity
“While Christianity is declining in the UK, it’s flourishing in other countries”
Some have cited increasing immigration into the UK as a primary reason behind the decline of Christianity — particularly immigration from countries that are predominantly Muslim or Hindu. It has been suggested that the development of a multi-ethnic population has led to the diversification of faith in the country. According to the census, however, this is unlikely.
The religious group showing the most substantial increase is the Muslim population, and even then the increase is only from 4.9% to 6.5%; hardly enough to account for the decline in Christianity. If anything, the proportion of non-white British Christians has increased. While Christianity is declining in the UK, it’s flourishing in other countries, and this might have even kept British Christianity from declining even faster than it already has — an article from The Guardian argues that ‘immigration has become an important prop in sustaining Christianity.’
Perhaps for a better explanation we might look to the growth of the non-religious population, which has expanded from 25.2% to 37.2%. Religion in general, it appears, is on the decline.
But why exactly is this happening? Once again it may be tempting for older generations to pin down Gen Z as less reverent or more superficial, or to cite technology and science as the key reasons behind the loss of faith. But scientific development has been ongoing for centuries, and it’s never led to such a drastic decline in religion in Britain.
“The contemporary rise in atheism or agnosticism might be traced back as far as the early twentieth century, when WWI and WWII dealt a powerful blow to the faith of many Britons.”
Generational Change
It’s likely that this phenomenon started not with today’s youth but with their parents, or even their grandparents. Studies have shown that children with a Christian upbringing have a 45% chance of retaining their religion, but children with a non-religious upbringing have a 95% chance of remaining non-religious throughout their lives.
The contemporary rise in atheism or agnosticism might be traced back as far as the early twentieth century, when WWI and WWII dealt a powerful blow to the faith of many Britons. Then came the controversy surrounding deeply Christian British leaders such as Thatcher in the 1980s.
It might be that a positive feedback loop formed following these years of political tumult: non-religious parents brought up their children to be non-religious, who then raised more non-religious children. In other words, many people today might have no religion simply because they were brought up that way.
Disillusionment
Of course, Gen Z has likely also become disillusioned with religion. The UK’s Gen Z population may not have lived through a global war, but the sheer speed at which information travels today means a constant onslaught of chilling global news: climate disasters, wars, and pandemics might all have had a role in challenging ideas of justice and the existence of a higher power.
“Religion has become bound up with forms of differentiation and exclusion which most younger people now reject”
Conservatism And Exclusion
There’s also the fact that religion is now associated with conservatism and exclusion, particularly in terms of gender — a concept that’s only been strengthened by the overturning of Roe v Wade last year, which adversely impacted abortion rights in the USA.
British academic Linda Woodhead addresses this in one of her lectures: “Because religion has become bound up with forms of differentiation and exclusion which most younger people now reject, “no religion” has started to become not just a negation but a positive option.” This isn’t to say that religion is inherently conservative or exclusive — it’s been used to justify decisions across the political spectrum — but that recent events have shaped its image as such.
What Does This Mean for State Religion in the UK?
Some say that state religion should be abandoned altogether. The Commission on Belief and Religion in Public Life suggests that national forums such as the House of Lords should include non-Christian religious leaders such as rabbis, instead of being dominated by bishops. This would result in a diversification of views toward laws and policies.
There may also be a shift in the relationship between national identity and religious identity. For example, the Church of England has always played a key role in Remembrance Day, but this will likely no longer be the case if state religion is abandoned.
On the other hand, might there be a backlash in which the Christian community makes an attempt to re-spread the faith? Evangelism programmes such as London City Mission, for example, might help to increase the Christian population.
The Future?
The statistics are disheartening for Christians in the UK, but looking at the causes of the decline of religious faith shows that public attitudes towards religion are shaped by various social, political, and demographic factors, and none of these are ever very predictable.
One thing is certain, though: whether the government and the Church decide to counter this trend of decline, or work with it, will be a decision that requires some careful manoeuvring.
Featured image courtesy of Eve Davies.
Keziah Cho
Keziah Cho is an English undergraduate, born and raised in Hong Kong but currently studying in London. Aside from writing for Empoword, she also writes for two student publications, Pi Media and the Cheese Grater.