Christians are a minority in Britain and only half of the population class themselves as religious, according to a report out today. The 30th British Social Attitudes study shows that 52% identify themselves with a religion compared with 69% in 1983. The survey says the drop is driven by the declining popularity of the Church of England because those who affiliate themselves with the Anglican Church has dropped from 40% in 1983, to 20% in 2012.
In contrast, the proportion saying they belong to a religion other than Christianity has tripled from two to six per cent with the report noting that "Britain's religious landscape has not only become smaller but also more diverse".
The study of public opinion also included politics, health, spending and welfare, gender roles, social class and personal relationships.
The wide-ranging NatCen survey found that the majority of people in Britain now believe it's not important to be married before having children. In 1989, 70% agreed people who want children ought to get married, compared with 42% now.
And people are also much less concerned about sex outside marriage, or about homosexual relationships. In 1987, 64% of people believed that same-sex relationships were "always wrong", it is now 22%.
Dan Boucher is Policy Officer at Christian charity Care and told Premier's Victoria Laurence during the News Hour it's not all gloomy for Christians or the faith:
However, gender roles behaviour at home has not caught up with changing attitudes.
Women still report undertaking a disproportionate amount of housework and caring activities, spending an average of 13 hours on housework and 23 hours caring for family members each week, compared with eight and 10 hours respectively for men.
In politics now only 18% of the population trust governments to put the nation's needs above those of a political party, down from 38% in 1986.
This is mirrored by a decline in party loyalty. In 1983, 87% of the population identified with a political party, now this figure stands at 76%. However, more people claim to have an interest in politics, and more feel that they can influence politics. In 1986, 29% said that they had "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of an interest. The figure now stands at 36%.
The report also found 19% of the UK population thinks that banks are well run, compared with 90% thirty years ago.
The study was based on interviews with more than 3,000 people. The same questions have been asked annually for three decades.