BBC Report: Young more likely to pray than over-55s
Young people in the UK are twice as likely as older people to pray regularly, a new survey has found.
Some 51% of 18 to 34-year-olds polled by Savanta ComRes said they pray at least once a month, compared with 24% of those aged 55 and over.
It also found 49% of the younger age group attend a place of worship every month, compared with 16% of over-55s.
The associate director of Savanta said the numbers could reflect the move to online worship during the pandemic.
Chris Hopkins added that there were “a few theories” as to why young people made up such a large proportion of the religious landscape.
“Firstly, as the demography of the UK changes, minority faiths do tend to have a larger proportion of practising young people, and therefore as the population of these groups increases within the UK, so will the prayer habits of the population at large,” he said.
He explained it was important to “factor in the impact the pandemic has had on the ability to engage with one’s faith” with virtual prayers and services being held online.
“It is possible that the pandemic opened up more avenues to prayer to young people, and this is reflected in the findings,” he said.
