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Research

British ‘nones’: what do they believe in and do?

Linda Woodhead

Research Summary

This presents new and existing evidence which shows that ‘no religion’ has risen to rival ‘Christian’ as the preferred self-designation of British people. It offers a characterisation of the ‘nones’ which reveals that most are not straightforwardly secular. General cultural pluralisation and ethical liberalisation in Britain are held to be significant (churches have tended in the opposite direction). ‘No religion’ has become the new cultural norm, yet Britain is most accurately described as between Christian and ‘no religion’.

Researcher

Linda Woodhead

Research Institution

Lancaster University

What is this about?

‘Nones’ have been increasing in numbers in Britain for some time, but recently a majority of British people declared their affiliation as ‘no religion’ rather than ‘Christian’. What has happened? Who are they? What do they believe and do? Why has the shift occurred? Has Britain ceased to be a ‘Christian country’?

What was done?

This is an overview of census data (since 2001) and data from surveys carried out by the author (from 2013-2015), together with attention to earlier sources so as to plot longer-term trends.

Main findings and outputs

  • Whilst ‘no religion’ now exceeds ‘Christian’ as most people’s self-designation, ‘nones’ are not straightforwardly secular.
  • They reject religious labels but also secular ones; despite the ‘Dawkins factor’ they are not hostile to religion (e.g. against faith schools).
  • In the latest data, if we compare Christian and ‘no religion’ there is a striking contrast between the younger (18–24) with a majority (60 per cent) reporting ‘no religion’ and a minority (27 per cent) identifying as ‘Christian’, and the older (60 and over) where the proportions are roughly reversed.
  • A small minority believe in God whilst most are agnostic.
  • A quarter take part in a personal religious or spiritual practice, but none take part in communal ones or join groups.
  • ‘Nones’ share a liberal value set with many ‘somes’. In 2013-14 the author polled Britons on ‘controversial issues’ such as same-sex marriage, abortion, assisted dying: 83% were towards the liberal end of the opinion scale (supporting individual choice), 100% of ‘nones’ were, contrasting most sharply with Muslims, evangelical Christians and Anglican and Catholic bishops.

Relevance to RE

The relevance to RE teaching is that care needs to be taken when distinguishing religious from secular people, as there are beliefs, attitudes and practices that apply across the apparent divide. This means that a sensitive, differentiated approach to exploring the religious and world-view composition of the UK is needed. Teachers could bring out some of the similarities and differences in discussion with pupils and help them to consider their meanings and consequences.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This is a thorough analysis of comprehensive survey data.

Find out more

Linda Woodhead (2016), ‘The rise of “no religion” in Britain: The emergence of a new cultural majority’, Journal of the British Academy, 4: 245–261.

Available for free download at DOI 10.85871/jba/004.245 https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/1043/11_Woodhead_1825.pdf

 

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