By Lianne Kolirin
The population of England and Wales is no longer majority Christian. The 2021 Census revealed that people describing themselves as Christian has dropped below 50 per cent for the first time.
A panel of religious figures, scholars and educators debated the significance of the newly released breakdown of last year’s census records during a well-attended online briefing by the Religion Media Centre.
A total of 27.5 million people — or 46.2 per cent of the population of England and Wales — described themselves as Christian, a 13.1 percentage point decrease from 59.3 per cent (33.3 million) in 2011.
Although the requirement to complete the religion question is purely voluntary, it was completed by 56 million people — 94 per cent of usual residents. That was an increase of 1.1 per cent on the previous survey.
Christian still remained the most common response from respondents, though the next biggest group at 22.2 million people (37.2 per cent) was those who ticked the “no religion” — a 12-point increase from the 14.1 million (25.2 per cent) a decade earlier.
Other religious groups, such as Islam and Hinduism, however, reported a rise. At 3.9 million, Muslims now make up 6.5 per cent of the population — compared with 2.7 million (4.9 per cent) in 2011. The number of Hindus now stands at 1 million compared with 818,000 10 years ago.
In its report, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) highlighted a range of contributory factors, including differing patterns of ageing, fertility, mortality and migration.
Reacting to the findings, Professor Linda Woodhead, head of theology and religious studies at King’s College London, told the briefing: “The religious share of the pie is diminishing but the flavour of that pie is changing.”
She added: “If you are religious, you make an identity choice now because it isn’t the social norm to be Christian any more.”
The changing nature of religious identity is partly down to age and cultural practice, Professor Woodhead said. “You are more likely to be Christian if you are an older person and therefore the death rate affects that. It’s also about not passing religion to your children. That’s happening much more effectively in Islam and Hinduism.”
Philip North, the Bishop of Burnley and acting bishop of Blackburn, said the decline in Christianity “saddened” him, but added: “It’s more complicated than saying the church has got something wrong. It’s bigger and broader than that. The fact that the church is expanding globally so fast is evidence of that.”
When asked whether the drop in the number of Christians raised questions for aspects of public life such as faith schools, the bishop highlighted that many church schools were oversubscribed, adding: “The religious profile of the nation is more than ticking a box on a census. People want values-based education where faith plays a role. Faith remains a very important part of what it means to be human and a global citizen.”
Christopher Jamison, Abbot President of the English Benedictine Congregation, argued that the fall was the continuation of a trend. “The decline began way before the end of the 19th century for all sorts of historic reasons when our society started to break up into urban patterns that the church was slow to respond to,” he said.
He welcomed the overall religious landscape in England and Wales today, saying: “I’m delighted to live in a country where freedom of worship is so clearly evidenced.”
That said, he noted that some people believed the church to be “irrelevant and outdated” and added: “I think it’s a call to a different and imaginative way of offering religious faith to a spiritual nation.”
Of the 405,000 (0.7 per cent of the overall population in England and Wales) who chose to write a response in the “any other religion” section, the majority (74,000) identified as Pagan. The largest increase was seen in those describing their religion as “Shamanism”, increasing more than tenfold to 8,000 from 650 in 2011.
Of those who identified as “no religion”, the largest groups were: agnostic (32,000), atheist (14,000) and Humanist (10,000).
Jeremy Rodell, a trustee of Humanists UK, said of the decline in the number of Christians: “This is just more evidence of the decline in the Church of England and there’s no getting around that.”
The proportion of Sikhs in England and Wales rose from 0.8 to 0.9 per cent, with the biggest rises found in Wolverhampton and Sandwell. Dr Jasjit Singh, associate professor at Leeds University in the School of Philosophy, Religion and the History of Science, said the rise may partly be attributed to “post-Brexit migration” as well as young people’s growing interest in their cultural identity.
“It’s important to recognise that when people tick this box they might not just be ticking it for religious reasons but for heritage reasons,” he said.
The growth of the Muslim population can be partly attributed to the “natural maturing of the population”, according to Dr Azim Ahmed, deputy head of the Islam UK Centre in Cardiff and secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Wales. Religious identity is not just about faith schools, Dr Ahmed said, but the “strong emphasis” encouraged by parents.
The involvement of parents is as important within Judaism, according to Rabbi Jonathan Romain who said about 50 per cent of the Jewish faith was celebrated within the family home. “That means that we have got this advantage that it’s very ingrained in children right from the beginning,” he said.
Education is all important, said Kathryn Wright, chief executive officer of Culham St Gabriel’s Trust, a charitable organisation committed to supporting parents, school governors, faith communities and policy-makers of religion and worldviews.
“What we need to be doing is ensuring that children and young people get a really rich education in schools to help them navigate what seems to be an increasingly complex and diverse society and being able to engage with that,” she said.
View the briefing here
