Despite a national decline in religious observance, most Brits continue to see Britain as a Christian country, a new study has found.
YouGov found that while most British people celebrate Easter and Christmas, the majority do so in a secular way. In addition, religiousness was found to be very low, with over half of Britons (55 per cent) saying they are not a member of any religion.
Interestingly, however, most Brits continue to assert that they live in a Christian country - according to the study, 56 per cent of Britons hold this view, along with seven in ten (69 per cent) of British Christians, as well as half of non-Christians (47 per cent) and of those who are not religious (49 per cent). One in four Britons (28 per cent) say Britain is not a Christian country, while 16 per cent say they don’t know.
Older Britons are more likely to see Britain as a Christian country, with 53 per cent of those aged 25-39, 59 per cent of those in their 40s and 50s, and 61 per cent of those aged 60 and above holding that view. Amongst younger citizens, the number drops - 41 per cent say it is a Christian country, whilst 39 per cent say it isn’t.
There is also a universal agreement that both Christmas and Easter should remain as national public holidays - a view held by those who are both religious and non-religious.
Among those who are not Christian, eight in ten (80 per cent) support Christmas Day and over seven in ten (74 per cent) support Good Friday/Easter Sunday as public holidays. Just one in twelve in this group (8 per cent) oppose Good Friday and Easter Sunday being a public holiday. Among Britons who belong to no religion at all, just 9 per cent oppose Good Friday as a public holiday and 7 per cent think the same of Easter Sunday.
The total sample size used in the study was 2,169 adults, with online research being undertaken between 27th - 30th November 2020.
You can check out the full results from the study here.