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Attitudes to Immigration and Other News

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Today’s post features seven stories which have landed on BRIN’s desk during the past fortnight. Please use the contact tab on our homepage to alert us to any significant news items which we appear to have missed.

Attitudes to immigration and religious affiliation

Lord Ashcroft published the latest of his large-scale opinion polls on 1 September 2013, this time exploring attitudes to immigration. The sample comprised 20,062 Britons aged 18 and over interviewed online, presumably by Populus, between 17 and 29 May 2013. As usual, Ashcroft included a question about religious affiliation: ‘which of the following religious groups do you consider yourself to be a member of?’ As in the census of population for England and Wales, Christian denominations are not differentiated in the response codes. The results of this question appear on pp. 384-92 of the data tables which can be found at:

http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Immigration-Poll-Full-tables.pdf

In these tables religious affiliation is broken down by the following variables: gender, age, age within gender, social grade, social grade within gender, region, region within gender, educational attainment, educational attainment within gender, working status, employment sector, current voting intention, voting at the 2010 general election, and attitudes to immigration clusters. The clusters are the result of a segmentation analysis by which ‘seven pillars of opinion’, as Ashcroft describes them, have been distilled from the answers given to the various immigration questions. The clusters range from ‘universal hostility’ at one end of the spectrum to ‘militantly multicultural’ at the other, denoting the extremes of antipathy to and acceptance of immigration. These clusters are fully explained on pp. 10-15 of the report on the survey at:

http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/LORD-ASHCROFT-Public-opinion-and-the-politics-of-immigration2.pdf

A table mapping the clusters to religious affiliation is set out below. Although the findings are not fully consistent, it will be seen that professing Christians (a majority of whom will be white British) tend to be disproportionately uncomfortable about immigration and non-Christians, many of whom will be first- or second-generation immigrants, disproportionately favourable to it. As for people of no religion, the major discovery is that they constitute a majority (51%) of the ‘militantly multicultural’ cluster, 15% more than their presence in the population as a whole, whereas Christians are 17% less numerous in this cluster than in the country.

Segment	Christian	Non-Christian	No religion	No answer
All	55	7	36	2
Universal hostility	58	4	37	1
Cultural concerns	65	4	29	2
Competing for jobs	57	6	36	2
Fight for entitlements	62	4	32	2
Comfortable pragmatists	53	8	38	2
Urban harmony	41	24	29	6
Militantly multicultural	38	9	51	3

If the religious affiliation data from this poll are merged with those from other published Populus surveys conducted during the first half of 2013, then we have information about 60,358 Britons. Their religious profile is as follows: 55.2% Christian, 7.2% non-Christian, 35.2% no religion, and 2.3% not stated. It should be noted that these statistics are not directly comparable with those from the 2011 census because: a) they relate to Great Britain, whereas census data are just available for England and Wales at present; b) they are confined to adults while the census covers all ages; and c) the questions differ. In particular, Populus uses a ‘belonging’ form of religious affiliation, which is known to drive up the numbers professing no religion.

Is the Church of England out of touch?

In her column in the latest issue (1 September 2013, freely available online) of The Independent on Sunday, Janet Street-Porter lambasts the Church of England for being out of touch. She was responding to a recent speech by the Archbishop of Canterbury in which he called upon Christians to ‘repent’ for their past homophobic attitudes. ‘The Church is run by a bunch of grey men in fancy costumes’, Street-Porter continued, who ‘fail to represent modern Britain in any meaningful way.’ But does the great British public agree with her view that the Church of England is out of touch with contemporary society (not least in relation to the Church’s struggles with gender and sexual orientation equality issues during the past couple of decades or so)?

The answer appears to be an emphatic yes. The question has been directly addressed in online polling by YouGov on four occasions during 2012-13, with a substantial majority arguing that the Church of England is out of touch with the public mood: 65% on 26-27 January 2012 (in the wake of episcopal opposition in the House of Lords to the Government’s benefits cap); 76% on 22-23 November 2012 (following General Synod’s failure to pass legislation to enable women bishops); 61% on 14-15 March 2013; and 69% on 27-28 March 2013 (the last two surveys being conducted when the same-sex marriage Bill was a live issue). Demographic variations in these results, including by age, are surprisingly small.

Nevertheless, there is some limited comfort in the polls for the Church of England: a) even more Britons (77% on 14-15 March last) think the Roman Catholic Church is out of touch; b) relatively few (14% on 5-13 June 2013, in an as yet unpublished YouGov poll commissioned by Professor Linda Woodhead) go so far as to say that the Church of England is a negative force in society (albeit only 18% deem it a positive force); and c) a plurality (42% in YouGov’s study of 16-17 February 2012) still concedes that the Church of England performs a valuable role in Britain. And, despite occasional sabre-rattling in the public square to threaten disestablishment, there exists no strong public clamour to separate Church from State (see my article in Implicit Religion, Vol. 14, No. 3, September 2011, pp. 319-41).

Catholic trends

‘Catholic weekly Mass attendance figures vary a lot around England and, like house prices, show a sharp north/south divide with smaller numbers up north – according to the latest diocesan accounts on the Charity Commission website.’ So writes layman Kenn Winter of Huddersfield in a letter to the editor of the Catholic weekly The Universe, published in its edition of 1 September 2013 (p. 20). Whereas in the Diocese of Westminster he finds that, on average, 700 Catholics per parish attend Mass weekly, in the Archdiocese of Liverpool it is only 250. Winter also notes the big discrepancy between Catholic population and weekly Massgoers, citing the Diocese of Salford as an example, with 330,000 Catholics and 58,000 weekly attenders at Mass. ‘Most Catholics do not go to Mass – especially schoolchildren, yet Catholic schools’ numbers are burgeoning …’ He concludes that, with more children in Catholic schools than attenders at weekly Mass, and often with more Catholic schools than parishes, there appears to be a move away from parish life and the centrality of the parish priest. He ponders: ‘is the Catholic Church in England changing its mission?’

Faith schools

Further to our post of 9 June 2013, the Fair Admissions Campaign released new top-level data for England and Wales on 30 August 2013 to support its claim that ‘faith-based admissions criteria cause schools to be socio-economically unrepresentative of their local areas’. As a proxy for deprivation, the Campaign mapped, for Middle Super Output Areas (MSOAs), pupil eligibility for free school meals (FSMs) in the neighbourhood and in state schools. Nationally, 18.1% of primary and 15.2% of secondary school students are considered eligible for FSMs, but the proportion is significantly lower in Roman Catholic schools (virtually all of which are said to have fully religiously selective admissions criteria): 7.1% fewer in Catholic primaries and 4.7% less in secondaries. Admissions criteria vary in Church of England schools. Overall, their FSM numbers are 0.2% below the norm in primaries and 1.9% in secondaries, falling to 3.9% under in the case of Anglican secondaries applying religious admissions criteria. For Jewish schools the FSM undershoot is even worse, 13.4% in primaries and 14.4% in secondaries, while even Muslim secondary schools are 9.4% below average in terms of FSM pupils. At the other end of the spectrum, schools with no religious character are 1.3% above the FSM norm at primary and 0.9% at secondary level. The contention is that religious admissions criteria benefit middle-class parents who have the time to participate in activities required to fulfil the criteria and to plan ahead. The Campaign’s press release can be found at:

http://fairadmissions.org.uk/revealed-how-much-faith-based-admissions-socio-economically-segregate-school-intakes/

More generally, the British public clearly entertains reservations about faith schools, according to the latest (as yet unpublished) polling evidence, from YouGov on behalf of Professor Linda Woodhead, 4,018 adults aged 18 and over being interviewed online between 5 and 13 June 2013. Three-quarters (59%) say they would be unlikely to send their own child to a faith school. Almost two-fifths (38%) find it unacceptable that faith schools are allowed to give preference in their admissions policies to children and families who profess or practice the relevant religion, while 23% contend that all faith schools should have to admit a proportion of students from a different religion or no faith at all.

GCSE results

Provisional GCSE results for the United Kingdom (excluding Scotland) for the summer 2013 round of examinations were published by the Joint Council for Qualifications on 22 August 2013. For Religious Studies (RS) there were 263,988 entrants for the full course, 24,865 or 10.4% up on the previous year, more than twice the increase in candidates for all subjects (4.2%). The ten-year growth for RS is 99.5%, so it could be said to have been a boom decade for the study of religion, even though belief in and practice of it among adolescents and youth have generally reduced on most performance indicators. A majority (54.2%) of RS students in 2013 was female, 3.1% more than for all subjects, but well below the 68.5% for A Level RS. The pass rate for GCSE RS full course was 98.3%, down by 0.2% from 2012, the same decline as for all subjects. ‘Good’ grades of A*, A, B, or C were obtained by 72.4% of RS full course entrants, reduced from 73.7% last year (compared with, respectively, 68.1% and 69.4% for all subjects); the differential might suggest that either RS attracts better students than other subjects and/or that it is a somewhat easier discipline than some.

Besides full course GCSE RS, there is a separate short course (equivalent to half a GCSE), which fared less well, attracting 174,364 candidates this summer, a drop of 61,552 or 26.1% since last year, and mirroring the 26.2% fall in all short course subjects (unsurprisingly, given that 63.6% of all short course entries are for RS). This decline reflects the fact that short courses generally are no longer used as a benchmark of school performance and thus are no longer as attractive to either schools or pupils. Although full and short course RS entrants combined were 36,687 or 7.7% fewer in summer 2013 than in summer 2012, at 438,352 they were still 23.1% more than in summer 2003. Nevertheless, the reversal of the upward trend for RS since 1995 has been seized on by some commentators on the GCSE results as a direct consequence of the Government’s introduction of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), which excludes RS. The full examination results can be studied at:

http://www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/gcses

Egypt

The British public is normally fairly suspicious of, if not antipathetic toward, Islamism, but current political events in Egypt are leaving it a little confused. Asked whether they would prefer to see Egypt ruled by an elected Islamist government (such as existed until very recently under President Morsi) or an unelected non-Islamist regime (such as the present military-led government), 53% in an online YouGov poll on 18-19 August 2013 were undecided. The balance of the sample of 1,729 adults was divided between 24% in favour of an elected Islamist administration (ranging from 16% of UKIP voters to 30% of Scots) and 23% for an unelected non-Islamist one (with a low of 15% among Liberal Democrats and a high of 40% for UKIP supporters). These findings exemplify how, in the words of YouGov’s own commentary on the poll, ‘recent developments in Egypt have pitted one of the world’s strongest values, democracy, against one of its biggest fears, Islamist government’. The data table, released on 20 August, is at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/98iltt8zen/YG-Archive-Egypt-results-190813.pdf

Muslims in the 2011 census

On 21 August 2013 the Runnymede Trust published The New Muslims, a collection of 13 short papers edited by Claire Alexander, Victoria Redclift, and Ajmal Hussain, the outcome of a workshop and a panel debate held at the University of Manchester in March. One of the contributions (pp. 16-19) is by Stephen Jivraj on ‘Muslims in England and Wales: Evidence from the 2011 Census’. This offers a comparison of the results of the 2001 and 2011 censuses to demonstrate the growth of the Muslim community with particular reference to spatial aspects at local authority level. Three main conclusions are reached: a) Muslims are clustered in selected areas with a history of immigration from Southern Asia; b) their numbers are growing in areas where they are already most clustered, but at an even faster rate in immediately adjacent areas; and c) they were fairly evenly spread across England and Wales in 2001 and had become more so by 2011, with their residential separation decreasing. The New Muslims is free to download at:

http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/publications/Runnymede_The_New_Muslims_Perspective.pdf

Posted in News from religious organisations, Official data, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Religion in the Press, Religious Census, Survey news | Tagged Ajmal Hussain, census of population, Church of England, Claire Alexander, democracy, Egypt, English Baccalaureate, Fair Admissions Campaign, faith schools. GCSEs, Immigration, Independent on Sunday, Islamism, Janet Street-Porter, Joint Council for Qualifications, Kenn Winter, Linda Woodhead, Lord Ashcroft, Muslims, out of touch, Populus, Religious Affiliation, religious studies, Roman Catholic Church, Runnymede Trust, schools, Stephen Jivraj, The Universe, University of Manchester, Victoria Redclift, YouGov | Leave a comment

Eight Shorts

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Eight short items of statistical news feature in today’s second post, clearing a small backlog which has built up during a week’s absence from the desk.

Hate crime

The overwhelming majority of the British public (84%) consider that an attack on someone because of their religion should be treated as a hate crime, second only to those who deem an attack on someone because of their race as a hate crime (88%), and ahead of the numbers regarding as hate crimes attacks on the basis of sexuality (83%), transsexuality (81%), disability (78%), gender (75%), sub-culture (68%), age (59%), weight (56%), height (51%), hair colour (51%), and political views (51%). The proportion who do not think that an attack on the grounds of religion should be classed as a hate crime is 10% overall, but 13% for men and Conservative supporters, and 14% among the 18-24s. The survey was conducted by YouGov on 14-15 May 2013 with an online sample of 1,886 adults, and the data tables are available at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/i4jqy1c3rk/YG-Archive-hate-crime-results-150513.pdf

Sunday stress

Far from being a day of rest, Sunday has become the most stressful day of the week for one-third of Britons, according to a ‘Sunday Stress Audit’ of over 2,000 adults commissioned by the Really television channel. Indeed, 65% now claim to have busier schedules on Sunday than on an ordinary weekday, and 67% report that ‘Sunday blues’ kick in at some point during the day. More than half (51%) consider Sundays to be a day ‘for getting things done’, with an average of 3 hours and 36 minutes being spent on various household tasks, and 35% admitting that they nag or are nagged by their partners to carry out such chores. Such is the level of ‘busyness’ that 34% never get a lie in bed on Sunday, and 53% never get chance to read the Sunday newspapers properly. Sunday lunch (which takes 2 hours to prepare and 26 minutes to eat) and seeing extended family remain key elements of the Sunday tradition, with two-thirds getting together with their wider family at least one Sunday each month, not always without friction. Full results and methodological details of the survey have not been released, and the above summary is largely taken from the Daily Mail for 10 May 2013 at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2322269/Sunday-Its-day-rest-day-stress-Two-thirds-say-Sabbath-busiest-time-week.html

Church organs

‘The traditional church organ is a must for special occasions but, Sunday to Sunday, congregations would rather have a guitar-based worship group.’ This is the conclusion drawn by Christian Resources Exhibitions International from a poll conducted between 26 April and 3 May 2013 among 2,250 UK churchgoers who are members of the Christian Research online panel (Resonate). A guitar-based group was the preference for ordinary Sunday services of 44% of churchgoers compared with 30% for the organ, while almost two-thirds of respondents disagreed with the statement that a church with no organ is like a pub with no beer. More than half the sample had experience of organists slipping ‘unrelated’ secular music into their repertoire. Detailed results of the poll have not been published, but there is a brief press release at:

http://www.creonline.co.uk/news.asp?pageid=13

Church Commissioners

The Church Commissioners, who make a substantial contribution to the finances of the Church of England (especially in respect of its ministry), published their annual report and accounts for 2012 on 14 May 2013. They demonstrate a return on investments of just under 10% for the year, almost matching the Commissioners’ average for the past 20 years. This return exceeds the Commissioners’ target of inflation plus 5%, as well as the performance of a comparator group of funds. The report can be found at:

http://www.churchofengland.org/media/1743919/w1025_cc_annual-report_final.pdf

A century and more of Catholic statistics

The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales has performed a useful service in collating the available national statistics of the Catholic Church in England and Wales until 2010, of ordinations since 1860, priests since 1890, and baptisms, marriages, receptions (formerly adult conversions), and estimates of Catholic population since 1913. Updating the series already available on BRIN (reproduced, with permission, from Churches and Churchgoers, 1977), they were published in spreadsheet format (as a series of tables and graphs), together with a brief and not entirely unbiased commentary, on the Society’s news blog on 17 May 2013 at:

http://www.lms.org.uk/news-and-events/news-blog/may-2013#statistics

With the exception of ordinations (where the lists of men each year have been counted), the data have been taken from the Catholic Directory for England and Wales, a commercial publication but issued with the official sanction of the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. Although the best source we have, it should not be forgotten that, through no fault of the Catholic Directory, these figures present a variety of challenges in terms of methodology and quality, reflecting weaknesses in the Church’s statistics-gathering at diocesan and national levels. Indeed, the Catholic Directory has recently deemed them so problematical that it has ceased to publish them entirely.

The Latin Mass Society’s principal gloss on the data is to highlight ‘the striking decline of a range of statistical indications of the health of the Catholic Church in England and Wales in the 1960s and 1970s’. According to the Society’s chairman, Dr Joseph Shaw, ‘it is not fanciful to connect this catastrophe to the wrenching changes which were taking place in the Church at that time, when the Second Vatican Council was being prepared, discussed, and, often erroneously, applied’. No mention here of wider historical and sociological debates about the secularization of British society and of what some historians view as the ‘religious crisis’ of the 1960s.

Mass-Observation

Mass-Observation was a social research organization founded by Tom Harrisson and Charles Madge in 1937, employing a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods, primarily in two fieldwork areas: Bolton/Blackpool and London. Its heyday was relatively short, just twelve years until 1949, after which it was succeeded by Mass-Observation (UK) Limited, with a focus on commercial market research. From the outset it displayed a particular interest in religion, and, although only one major religion-related project (Puzzled People, based on interviews with a sample of 500 Hammersmith residents in 1944-45) was ever published, much raw material survives in the Mass-Observation Archive, on deposit at the University of Sussex since 1975, significant portions of which have been reproduced on microform and online by Adam Matthew Publications. Despite being the subject of a considerable amount of secondary literature, there has not hitherto been a full-length history. It is, therefore, a great pleasure to welcome the new book by James Hinton, The Mass Observers: A History, 1937-1949 (Oxford University Press, 2013, ISBN 978-0-19-967104-5). This is essentially arranged chronologically rather than thematically, but the volume does include some brief discussion of Mass-Observation’s religious research, including an account of Puzzled People on pp. 320-4.

NatCen trustees

NatCen (National Centre for Social Research), the independent and not-for-profit organization which undertakes a wide range of surveys (including the British Social Attitudes Surveys), is looking for four trustees to join its board. The closing date for applications is 17 June 2013. Further particulars are available at:

http://www.natcen.ac.uk/about-us/job-opportunities/trustee-x4

Public understanding of statistics

Although it contains nothing specific about religion, some BRIN readers may be interested in a poll conducted by Ipsos MORI for King’s College London and the Royal Statistical Society and published on 14 May. The sample comprised 1,034 British adults aged 16-75 interviewed online between 9 and 15 April 2013. In a crushing blow to the BRIN ego, only 6% of respondents agreed that online blogs report statistics accurately. About half the population (49%) have a great deal or fair amount of trust in information provided by statisticians, but the proportion falls to 23% for pollsters, albeit it climbs to 63% for trust in academics. The twenty questions and sub-questions also included some practical tests of the public’s numeracy. The topline results can be viewed at:

http://www.ipsos-mori.com/Assets/Docs/Polls/rss-kings-ipsos-mori-trust-in-statistics-topline.pdf

Posted in Historical studies, News from religious organisations, Survey news | Tagged Catholic Directory, Christian Research, Christian Resources Exhibitions International, Church Commissioners, church music, Church of England, church organs, discrimination, hate crime, Ipsos-MORI, James Hinton, King's College London, Latin Mass Society, Mass-Observation, NatCen, Really, Resonate, Roman Catholic Church, Royal Statistical Society, statistics, stress, Sundays, YouGov | Leave a comment

Sunday Activities and Other News

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Today’s post highlights four recent opinion polls, touching on the use of Sundays, the religious state of Scotland, and reactions to the funeral arrangements for the late Baroness Thatcher.

Sunday activities

Sunday has largely become a day dominated by secular routines, according to an online survey conducted by OnePoll in late March 2013 (the week before Easter Sunday) on behalf of the pub chain Chef & Brewer, and kindly made available to BRIN by the Spirit Pub Company. The sample comprised 2,000 UK adults aged 18 and over. Of these, 62% said that they usually spent their Sundays catching up on domestic chores (36% stating they did the bulk of those chores on Sundays, and 41% that they would be ‘lost’ if they did not have Sunday as a catch-up day); 31% shopped (33% considering that Sunday opening of shops had made their lives easier); and 16% went to work.

The average number of ‘little jobs’ done on a Sunday was 16, with only 5% doing none and 39% performing eleven or more. The commonest chores included: washing up (42%), tidying up (41%), clothes washing (39%), hanging out washing (29%), drying up (29%), vacuuming (26%), and ironing (21%). Most time was reckoned to be taken up by tidying the house (30%) and cooking Sunday lunch (25%). Two-fifths (42%) felt annoyed that they never had chance to unwind and really relax on a Sunday, and 54% felt bogged down with the amount of jobs they had to do at the weekend.

Nevertheless, 53% described Sunday as mostly a day of rest for them (more so for men, 57%, than women, 49%), with 77% thinking that the balance of their day still inclined towards relaxation, and just 8% reckoning Sunday to be the busiest day of their week. For 60% Sunday provided an opportunity for spending quality time with friends and family, and for 42% to catch up on sleep. Some also recharged the spiritual batteries. Although, in reply to question 10, 15% claimed that they ‘usually’ went to a place of worship on Sunday, fewer (7%) admitted to worshipping ‘pretty much every Sunday’ in answer to question 4. The second figure is likely to be the more realistic; it represented 6% of men versus 9% of women, and 12% of the over-55s compared with around 5% of younger cohorts.

Scottish faith

Scotland, formerly renowned for its religiosity relative to England, continues to be in the grip of secularizing tendencies, according to the latest opinion poll, conducted by Panelbase for the Sunday Times Scotland and Real Radio Scotland. The sample comprised 1,002 Scots aged 18 and over interviewed online between 18 and 25 March 2013. Some results were published in two articles (by Jason Allardyce and Gillian Bowditch) in the Sunday Times Scotland for 31 March 2013, while the full data tables can be found at:

http://www.panelbase.com/news/Religionforpublication020413.pdf

Asked whether they ‘belonged’ to any religion, 39% of Scots said that they did not, including 54% of men aged 18-34 and even more, 60%, of women in the same cohort. Church of Scotland adherents numbered 32%, Roman Catholics 13%, other Christians 10%, and non-Christians 4%. Christians amounted to 55%, rising, for men, from 34% among the 18-34s to 70% of the over-55s, and for women from 33% to 78%. The proportion of Christians is ten points down on the 2001 population census, and the trend is expected to be confirmed when the 2011 Scottish census results are released later this year.

Less than one-third (30%) were convinced that Jesus Christ was a real person who died and came back to life and was the Son of God, the proportion being highest among Catholics (67%) and lowest for women aged 18-34 (17%). 44% answered the question in the negative (58% of men and 54% of women aged 18-34), and 27% were uncertain what to think.

Rites of passage excepted, two-thirds of the sample never attended public worship or had not done so for more than a year, peaking at 87% of those professing no religion and 74% of women aged 18-34. 8% claimed to have attended within the last week and a further 8% within the past month. The majority (77%) said that the resignation of Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the former leader of the Scottish Catholics, and his admission of sexually inappropriate behaviour would make no difference to their churchgoing, but 20% stated that they would now be less likely to attend church; there was no difference between Catholics and non-Catholics in this respect.

Unsurprisingly, 62% of all Scots wanted Pope Francis I to move the Roman Catholic Church in new directions (76% of Catholics), against 10% who desired him to maintain the Church’s traditional positions (18%), with 28% having no view (5%). Overall, 63% of Scots wanted the Church to get tougher with abusers (57% of Catholics), 61% to become more accepting of artificial contraception (55%), 55% to become more modern (54%), 54% to allow priests to marry (43%), 54% to become more open (53%), 44% to become more accepting in general (47%), 41% to become more accepting of homosexuality (27%), and 40% to become more accepting of abortion (18%).

Funeral of Mrs Thatcher

The country is as divided about the late Baroness Thatcher in the aftermath of her death as it was during her lifetime. One-half of the 1,893 British adults interviewed by YouGov online for The Sun on 8 and 9 April 2013 thought that it is right that she be given a full ceremonial funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral this coming Wednesday (17 April). Predictably, the proportion rose to 85% among Conservatives and 60% of UKIP supporters but dropped to 25% among Labour voters and 38% of Scots. Those thinking it wrong that she be given such a funeral numbered 32%, including 58% of Labourites and 45% in Scotland, with 18% expressing no view (possibly reflecting the fact that fieldwork took place in the immediate aftermath of Mrs Thatcher’s death, before people had the chance to think matters through). Full data table available on page 4 at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/jx8g4k4srj/YouGov-Sun-results-Thatcher-legacy-130409.pdf

A second YouGov poll, this time for the Sunday Times on 11 and 12 April 2013 among 1,981 Britons, asked a similar question but offered clarification of what was meant by a ‘ceremonial funeral’ at St Paul’s Cathedral (in contrast to a ‘state funeral’, as would be accorded to a monarch) and included different reply options. On this occasion, 42% of respondents preferred that Baroness Thatcher receive a ceremonial but not a state funeral, including 70% of Conservatives and 52% of Liberal Democrat and UKIP voters, and 73% of those who ranked Thatcher as ‘a great Prime Minister’. A further 8% (13% of Conservatives and 21% of those admiring her as ‘a great Prime Minister’) wanted her to have a state funeral, with 43% arguing that she should have neither a state nor a ceremonial funeral (70% for Labourites alone), and 8% undecided. Full data table on pages 21-2 at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/e4m8mi50q2/YG-Archive-Pol-Sun-results-120413.pdf

Posted in church attendance, Religion and Politics, Religion in the Press, Survey news | Tagged ceremonial funeral, Chef & Brewer, church attendance, Gillian Bowditch, Jesus Christ, Keith O'Brien, Margaret Thatcher, OnePoll, Panelbase, Pope Francis I, Real Radio Scotland, Religious Affiliation, Roman Catholic Church, Scotland, St Paul's Cathedral, Sunday activities, Sunday Times, Sunday Times Scotland, The Sun, YouGov | Leave a comment

Sunday Times Religion Poll

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Clive D. Field

YouGov conducts a weekly online poll for The Sunday Times, and today’s edition includes a special module on religion (with particular reference to attitudes to the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church), as well as analysing responses to political questions by religious affiliation (the upcoming budget and press regulation post-Leveson being prominent in this survey). Full data tables can be found at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/qnktt3jc19/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-15-170313.pdf

Coverage of the poll in the print edition of the newspaper is minimal, confined to just a couple of findings relating to the Catholic Church which are reported on page 25 of the main section. There seems to have been more editorial interest in the drinking habits of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, which makes the lead story on the front page!

The sample comprised 1,918 Britons aged 18 and over interviewed on 14 and 15 March 2013, 71% of whom professed no religion. This is an unprecedentedly high number of ‘nones’, even by YouGov’s standards, and would suggest caution in using the affiliation data. Unfortunately, also, YouGov coded Church of Scotland to the Anglican responses, thus somewhat compromising the integrity of the category.

Attitudes to the Church of England

A majority of Britons (61%) consider the Church of England to be out of touch, peaking at 69% for those professing no religion and 73% among UKIP supporters. One-fifth (21%) see it as in touch, ranging regionally from 11% of Scots to 29% of Londoners, with 18% undecided. Among Anglicans a few more regard their Church as being in touch (45%) than not (43%), but that still constitutes substantial dissatisfaction.

A plurality of adults (48%, the same as in November 2012) criticizes the Church of England for opposing same-sex marriage, rising to 67% among the 18-24s and Liberal Democrats. Around two-fifths (39%) support the Church’s opposition, including 51% of Conservative and 72% of UKIP voters. Majorities of Anglicans (57%), Catholics (55%), and other Christians (53%) side with the Church. One in seven (14%) of the entire sample remain undecided.

Exactly four-fifths of Britons want the Church of England to allow women to become bishops, including 88% of Liberal Democrats and 82% of people with no religion. Just 11% do not favour women bishops (16% of Anglicans and 23% of non-Christians) and 10% cannot make up their minds.

A majority of adults (69%, including 76% of those professing no faith) believe Justin Welby to be wrong in condemning sex outside marriage, while 17% think he is right (including 30% of Anglicans and UKIP supporters), and 13% are unsure.

A plurality of Britons (44%) disapprove of the recent criticism by Anglican bishops of the Coalition Government’s 1% cap on welfare benefits for the next three years, which is less than the current rate of inflation. The proportion increases to 72% among Conservative voters and even reaches 51% for Anglicans. Two-fifths (39%, but 60% of Labour voters and 56% of Catholics) back the bishops’ stance, with 17% uncertain what to think.

The country is evenly divided about whether bishops and other senior clergy should comment on political issues and Government policies: 44% contend they should and 43% that they should not. Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters are most likely to favour episcopal intervention, Conservative and UKIP voters to oppose it. Around three-fifths of Christians (58% of Anglicans, 59% of Catholics, 63% of other Christians) want bishops and other senior clergy to speak out, with 35% of Anglicans in disagreement. As many as 38% of people with no religion back the right of the Church to enter the political arena.

Attitudes to the Roman Catholic Church

Even more Britons (77%) regard the Roman Catholic Church as out of touch than do the Church of England, the figure hitting 82% among those with no religion and 87% among prospective UKIP voters. Just 10% view the Church as being in touch, with scarcely any variation by secular demographics, and 14% have no view on the matter. Most professing Catholics (59%) think their Church is out of touch, against 34% who say the opposite.

Most Britons (78%) want the Catholic Church to allow priests to marry, albeit somewhat fewer of Catholics (70%). Only 7% (but 21% of Catholics) opt to uphold the celibacy rule, with 15% expressing no opinion.

Most adults (79%) consider the Church to have dealt badly with the issue of child abuse by its priests, the over-60s (87%) being particularly likely to say so. The majority of Catholics (62%) agree. A mere 7% of Britons think the Church has handled the crisis well, rising to 27% of Catholics, with 13% unsure.

Asked whether the Catholic Church was right or wrong to have elected a new Pope from South America (Cardinal Bergoglio, now Francis I), 47% say that they do not know. Of the rest, 48% agree with the decision (among them 54% of the over-60s, 55% of Scots, and 77% of Catholics) and 5% disagree (peaking at 14% for non-Christians).

Religion and political attitudes

The relatively small number of interviewees professing a faith (29%) somewhat limits the potential of analysing political attitudes by religion. In general, the profile of replies for the no religion category does not vary markedly from that for all adults.

However, Anglicans are somewhat more likely than average to align with the Conservatives. For example, 38% say they would vote Conservative (against 29% of the whole sample), 35% approve of David Cameron’s performance as Prime Minister (32%), 24% consider George Osborne is doing well as Chancellor of the Exchequer (17%), and 25% want Osborne to remain in post (17%).

On the other hand, Catholics incline to back the Labour Party: 48% indicate that they would vote Labour (41% nationally), and 39% think Ed Miliband is doing well as Labour leader (30%). Catholics are similarly more unconvinced than all Britons (51% versus 45%) that the Coalition Government’s strategy for managing the economy will work over the long term.

Posted in News from religious organisations, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Religion in the Press, Survey news | Tagged Archbishop of Canterbury, Argentina, celibacy, child abuse, Church and State, Church of England, Coalition Government, David Cameron, extra-marital sex, Francis I, George Osborne, in touch, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Justin Welby, out of touch, politics, Pope, priests, Roman Catholic Church, same-sex marriage, South America, Sunday Times, welfare benefits, women bishops, YouGov | 1 Comment

Gender and Religion and Other News

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Today BRIN features the third instalment of findings from the YouGov poll commissioned in connection with the 2013 series of Westminster Faith Debates, plus the usual miscellany of other British religious statistical news.

Gender and religion

There is little public sympathy for gender segregation and discrimination in organized religion, according to the latest batch of findings from the YouGov poll of 25-30 January 2013 commissioned by Professor Linda Woodhead of Lancaster University to provide background for the 2013 series of Westminster Faith Debates. Online interviews were undertaken with 4,437 adult Britons. An innovative set of questions about the gender aspects of religion was posed, summarized in the press release to be found at:

http://religionandsociety.org.uk/events/programme_events/show/press_release_westminster_faith_debate_3_gender_and_religion

The full data tables, incorporating numerous cross-breaks, have also been uploaded by YouGov at:

http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/byjw8evl6d/YG-University-of-Lancaster-results-Archive-300130-religion-gender-debate.pdf

Hardly anybody (relatively) thinks it acceptable for the major religions to differentiate between men and women in various practical ways. Thus, only 4% find it appropriate that the sexes should be separated in public worship and other religious contexts; 12% that religions should strongly encourage men and women to dress differently; 11% that they should offer men and women different teachings about how to lead a good life; and 5% that they should insist on the sexes being educated separately.

Unsurprisingly, the most religious, those who currently engage in some form of religious activity, are generally more well-disposed to these forms of differentiation; even so, the majority still say that they are inappropriate. Of the various denominations and faiths, Muslims are a notable exception, with as many as 54% supporting different dress for the sexes, 50% gender segregation in religious contexts, and 44% separate education.

A good many people (43%) think that major religions would be better off if more women held senior leadership positions. Just 5% say that religions would be worse off, with 52% neutral or undecided. A somewhat larger proportion (49%, rising to 55% of females) believe that more women should lead major religions in Britain, with a mere 6% against, and 32% contending that it is a matter for the religions to determine. Yet more (74%) are of the view that women are just as suited to religious leadership as men, and 3% that they are better suited (8% saying the contrary).

The Church of England (in the gender news recently because of the unresolved issue of women bishops) comes in for a fair amount of implied criticism in the poll. Only 10% of all adults approve of the way in which women are depicted in its teachings and traditions, with the figures not much better for nominal Anglicans (15%) and practising Anglicans (23%). No more than 8% approve of the Established Church’s current policies towards women (against 11% of nominal and 16% of practising Anglicans). Even considering the parish level, just 13% endorse the way in which women are treated (20% of nominal Anglicans, albeit a more respectable 47% of practising Anglicans).

The Roman Catholic Church comes off even worse on the same measures, with 6% of Britons approving of the way in which women are depicted in its teachings and traditions (rising to 23% of nominal Catholics and 32% of practising ones). The same number back its current policies towards women (22% of nominal and 31% of practising Catholics). At local parish level, just 7% support the way in which women are treated (28% of nominal and 38% of practising Catholics).

Summing up, Woodhead concludes: ‘These new findings show that the churches are seriously out of step not only with society but with their own members’. The same trend has emerged from the results released in connection with the two previous Westminster Faith Debates. It would seem that, in matters of religion and personal life, there is a real clash of sources of authority, between revelation, scripture, and religious teachings on the one hand and the standards, expectations, and behaviours of society (and perhaps the state) on the other.

Pope-making

The election of Pope Francis I on the evening of 13 March 2013 has partly overtaken the papal survey released by ComRes and Premier Media Group the day before, based on online interviews with 2,030 Britons aged 18 and over on 6 and 7 March, i.e. before the commencement of the papal conclave. Nevertheless, some of the findings remain topical. The full data tables can be found at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/Premier_Papal_Survey_8_March_2013.pdf

According to the British public, by far and away the most important issue facing the new pope is child abuse in the Catholic Church, mentioned by 47%, followed by improving the Church’s global image (16%). Few support prioritizing the promotion of the Church’s teachings on same-sex marriage (3%), contraception (3%), euthanasia (1%), or abortion (1%). There is likewise limited interest in respecting diversity (5%), caring for the vulnerable (4%), celibacy of priests (4%), and women priests (3%). In a separate question, 80% agreed that it is part of the new pope’s role to try and enhance the Church’s reputation.

As for the conclave itself, 50% of respondents considered that the process of appointing a new pope needs updating, while 56% thought that it should be more transparent. Although 58% favoured an upper age limit in papal elections (80 was quoted by ComRes, which is already the de facto position), fewer (43%) concurred that popes should have to retire at 85 (with 28% disagreeing). Most (69%) wanted the pope to be free to retire whenever he wished, whereas death in office has been the papal tradition. There was no great enthusiasm for a pope being appointed from outside Europe (18%), 53% having no opinion on the matter; from this perspective, there is a certain irony that Francis I is an Argentinian.

Anti-Muslim incidents

On 10 March 2013 the Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) campaign published preliminary statistics of anti-Muslim hate incidents in the UK which have been reported to it during its first year of operation, with a fuller analysis to follow in July. Cases logged thus far total 632, 74% of which occurred on social media sites. A majority of victims (58%) were women, and the overwhelming majority of perpetrators (75%) men, mostly in their twenties. MAMA claims to have identified 54% of the perpetrators as supporters of the British National Party or English Defence League. More details at:

http://tellmamauk.org

European values

A second edition of the Atlas of European Values, which first appeared in 2005, has recently been published. It incorporates results from the latest (2008) wave of the European Values Study, the fieldwork for which was actually conducted in Great Britain in 2009-10. Maps, charts, and some commentary (but no data tables) present the main findings thematically. There is a chapter on religion (pp. 54-72) which covers the full range of religious affiliation, practice, belief, and attitudes. Details of the book are: Loek Halman, Inge Sieben, and Marga van Zundert, Atlas of European Values: Trends and Traditions at the Turn of the Century (Leiden: Brill, 2012, xi + 141p., €139 hardback, €69 paperback).

Hymns and mental health

Feeling down or depressed? Forget the G&T, for a good hymn could be your pick-me-up, especially if you sing it, and particularly if you are a woman and/or consider yourself highly religious. For hymns can ‘raise your spirits and make you feel better’, according to a survey of ‘what hymns mean to you’, undertaken by members of the Research Group of the Christian Council on Ageing: Michael J. Lowis, Janet Eldred, Albert J. Jewell, and Michael I. Jackson, ‘Hymns and Mental Health: A Survey of Church Attendees’, Journal of Applied Arts & Health, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2012, pp. 149-61.

It is freely admitted by the authors that ‘this study is not without its shortcomings’, and certainly the sample may not be entirely representative, even of churchgoers, although it was mostly recruited through religious organizations. It comprises 394 adults, almost entirely from England, of whom 75% were female and 95% Protestants (disproportionately from the Free Churches). For abstract and article purchase option, go to:

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/jaah/2012/00000003/00000002/art00005

Posted in News from religious organisations, Religion in public debate, Survey news, visualisation | Tagged Albert Jewell, anti-Muslim incidents, child abuse, Church of England, ComRes, Dress, European Values Study, gender, gender segregation, hymns, image of the Church, Inge Sieben, Islamophobia, Janet Eldred, Journal of Applied Arts & Health, Linda Woodhead, Loek Halman, Marga van Zundert, Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks, Mental Health, Michael Jackson, Michael Lowis, parish level, policies, Pope, Premier Media Group, religious leadership, Research Group of the Christian Council on Ageing, Roman Catholic Church, separate education, teachings and traditions, Tell MAMA, Westminster Faith Debates, women, YouGov | Leave a comment

Sex, Guilt, and Religion and Other News

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Our lead story today features the second instalment of findings from the YouGov survey commissioned for this year’s series of Westminster Faith Debates. There are also four other items of more general religious statistical news.

Sex, guilt, and religion

The second of this year’s Westminster Faith Debates, organized by Linda Woodhead and Charles Clarke with support from the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme and Lancaster University, took place last Wednesday before a capacity audience. The theme was ‘Too Much Sex These Days – the Sexualisation of Society?’ To provide context for the discussion, the organizers issued a press release which included the main findings from a survey commissioned from YouGov, in which 4,437 adults were interviewed online on 25-30 January 2013. The press release, which has been picked up by The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, and other media, can be read at:

http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk/events/programme_events/show/westminster_faith_debate_27_2_2013_too_much_sex_press_release

The full data tables are located at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/f9g2ypxea3/University-of-Lancaster-Results-130130-Faith-Matters_sex-debate.pd

A particular focus of the questions asked was on the degree of guilt respondents would feel if they engaged in four different sexual activities, all of which are condemned by the Roman Catholic Church. But while those who affiliated to a religion were somewhat more likely to feel guilty than individuals who had no faith, Catholics did not generally experience a deeper sense of guilt than religious people as a whole. Indeed, it was Baptists, Pentecostals, and Muslims who stood out as most guilt-ridden, albeit the sub-samples were fairly small.

The least acceptable of the four sexual activities was extra-marital intercourse, the prospect of which incited guilt in 56% of all adults (64% of the religious and 48% of the non-religious). The other three activities precipitated guilt in only a minority of the sample: 26% said they would feel guilty if they used pornography for sexual stimulation (33% of the religious – albeit 55% of practising Anglicans – and 15% of non-religious); 13% if they engaged in pre-marital sex (20% of the religious and 5% of the non-religious); and 5% if they used contraception (6% of the religious and 3% of the non-religious).

Multivariate analysis filled out this picture in an intriguing way. It revealed that the group least likely to feel guilty about indulging in these sexual activities were men who regarded their own judgement or intuition as the authoritative guide, did not identify with nor participate in a religion, and were definite that there is no God. Most susceptible to guilt were women who described themselves as religious, regarded religious sources as authoritative, were active members of a religion, and definitely believed in God. They felt four times as much guilt as the most guilt-free men.

Although religious and non-religious adults did not differ markedly in their agreement that sex is important to a fulfilled life (the national average being 68%), there was a big gender gap in those who strongly took this line, with men almost twice as likely as women to do so, and this was true of both religious and non-religious people. However, religious affiliates were more inclined than the norm (66%) to consider that the profile of sex is too high in society, rising to 70% for professing Anglicans, 74% for Catholics, 79% for Baptists, 81% for Muslims, and 81% for all religious respondents who currently participate in religious activities; these figures compare with 61% of the non-religious.

On the vexed subject of birth control, only 9% of nominal Catholics and 12% of practising Catholics entertained any reservations against using it, 89% and 87% respectively feeling no guilt. This bears out other surveys (such as that by the Von Hügel Institute for The Tablet in 2008, which found extensive recourse by mass-going Catholics to a variety of contraceptive practices). The religious body with most qualms about the use of contraception are now the Muslims, but even their guilt factor only reaches 23%.

This particular finding, together with the general claim in the press release that Catholic guilt about sex is a myth, will make uncomfortable reading for the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church which is in a state of some turmoil following the resignations of both the Pope and the most senior British Catholic leader. For Woodhead the clear message of the poll is that ‘most Catholics are taking authority more from their own reason than from the Church’s teaching’.

Jewish neighbourhoods

The Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) has recently (19 February 2013) published its second report on the Jewish population of England and Wales as revealed by the 2011 census, and correcting for non-response. It reveals that Jews are spatially concentrated, with nine-tenths living in under one-fifth of the country’s 8,500 wards, and one-half in just 66, although no individual ward actually contains a Jewish majority (Kersal in Salford has the highest Jewish density, of 41%).

The largest single Jewish neighbourhood is Golders Green in London, which experienced one-third growth between 2001 and 2011, now numbering 7,661 Jews. Even bigger decennial increases were recorded by Sedgley in Bury (42%) and New River in Hackney (35%), both predominantly haredi (strictly Orthodox) communities with 4,748 and 4,093 Jews respectively. Another haredi neighbourhood, Seven Sisters in Haringey, expanded by 103% from a lower 2001 base, to reach 3,162 Jews. By contrast, significant decline was recorded in some formerly dominant Jewish communities, notably by 43-55% in four Redbridge wards, and 26-29% in three Harrow wards. Natural increase and migration are identified as the two principal engines of Jewish demographic change.

The report 2011 Census Results (England and Wales): Initial Insights into Jewish Neighbourhoods by David Graham is available to download from:

http://www.jpr.org.uk/downloads/2011%20Census%20Jewish%20neighbourhoods%20Final.pdf

JPR intends to complement the information which can be gleaned from the census with its own National Jewish Community Study, sponsored by many major Jewish organizations, and to be conducted early this year.

Knowledge of historical documents

When it comes to key historical documents, the British public seems to have a better knowledge of those with ‘political’ as opposed to ‘religious’ interest. This is according to an Ipsos MORI survey for King’s College London which was reported recently, although the actual fieldwork took place on 20-24 October 2012. Telephone interviews were held with 1,005 adults aged 18 and over.

Read a list of eight historical documents, 90% professed to have heard of the United States Declaration of Independence, 89% of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, 87% of the Domesday Book, and 85% of Magna Carta (whose 800th anniversary will be commemorated in 2015). Knowledge was a little shakier about the actual details of Magna Carta, although 25% thought that it had guaranteed freedom of religion (presumably a reference to clause 1, which concerned the freedom of the English Church).

The other four documents on the list had a stronger religious component. Seven-tenths of the public were aware of the King James Bible (Authorized Version), a relatively high visibility which presumably owed something to the 2011 quatercentennial celebrations. However, far fewer claimed to know about the three manuscripts: 39% about the Lindisfarne Gospels (held at the British Library), 13% about the Codex Sinaiticus (substantially at the British Library, and bought for the nation following a public appeal in 1933-34), and 5% about the Textus Roffensis (at Medway Archives). The Textus is a hybrid document subsuming the oldest English law code and the oldest register of Rochester Cathedral.

As with all such polls about professed knowledge, we should be on our guard against inflated claims. These may arise either from an unwillingness to admit ignorance about something which people think they ought to know about (or believe they would be expected by others to know about) or from genuine confusion, misunderstanding, or misrecollection.

There is a blog about the survey, written by Sir Robert Worcester (chair of the Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Committee), at:

http://www.ipsos-mori.com/newsevents/ca/1286/85-of-British-adults-say-they-have-heard-of-the-Magna-Carta.aspx

Pastoral Research Centre reports

The Pastoral Research Centre (PRC) Trust has started to make available a number of past PRC reports as free downloads via the Trust website. The first batch of three such downloads includes: Pastoral & Population Statistics of the Catholic Community in England & Wales, 1958-2002: A Report to Parishes, edited by Tony Spencer (2004); and Tony Spencer, Secrecy in the Catholic Church: The Case of Catholic School Statistics in England and Wales (2010). They can be found at:

http://www.prct.org.uk/free-downloads

Faith in Research Conference

The seventh annual Faith in Research Conference takes place on Thursday, 20 June 2013 (please note the new date) at Church House, Westminster. It has been organized by the Church of England’s Research and Statistics Department and the Oxford Centre for Ecclesiology and Practical Theology. Bishop John Packer will take the chair. The programme begins with a keynote session by Professor Linda Woodhead of Lancaster University on ‘The Church of England Today: A Changing Church in a Changing Culture’, followed by sessions on three parallel themes: Church and society; mission; and ministry. Full programme details are available at:

http://www.churchofengland.org/media/1668581/fir_programmeupdatedv1.pdf

The standard conference fee is £65 (£55 if paid before 5 April), or £25 for students. Registration is online at:

http://faithinresearch2013.eventbrite.co.uk/#

Posted in Historical studies, News from religious organisations, Religion in public debate, Religious Census, Survey news | Tagged census of population, Charles Clarke, Church of England, Codex Sinaiticus, contraception, David Graham, extra-marital sex, Faith in Research, guilt, historical documents, Institute for Jewish Policy Research, Ipsos-MORI, Jewish neighbourhoods, King James Bible, King's College London, Lancaster University, Linda Woodhead, Lindisfarne Gospels, Magna Carta, Muslims, Pastoral Research Centre, pornography, pre-marital sex, Religion and Society Programme, religious census, religious knowledge, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholics, sex, Sir Robert Worcester, Textus Roffensis, Tony Spencer, Westminster Faith Debates, YouGov | Leave a comment

Pope Benedict Departs and Other News

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Benedict XVI leaves the papal office today following his resignation earlier in the month, and it is fitting that he should be the lead story in our latest BRIN post. This mostly derives from YouGov’s February 2013 Eurotrack survey, but space has been found for a couple of miscellaneous items, too.

Pope Benedict departs

YouGov has taken the opportunity of Benedict XVI’s departure to ask the publics of six Western European countries (Great Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden) how they rate his pontificate. Questions were included in the regular online Eurotrack undertaken between 21 and 27 February 2013, with 1,704 Britons aged 18 and over being interviewed (among them 117 professed Roman Catholics). Results have been disaggregated by religious affiliation within country (but not by other demographics) at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/auqvjc212x/Eurotrack-February-2013.pdf

A press release about the survey has also been issued and can be found at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/onzs1ox195/Pope_press_release.pdf

Asked whether Benedict had been right or wrong to resign as pope, 68% of Britons said right, similar to Denmark (67%), but lower than in Finland (71%), Sweden (72%), France (75%), and Germany (82%). In Britain 77% of the religious contended that he had made the right decision, including 79% of Catholics, compared with 64% of the religiously unaffiliated (29% of whom did not know what to think). Only 8% of Britons said that Benedict had been wrong to resign.

When it came to assessing how well or badly Benedict had done during his eight years as pope, a plurality of Britons (41%) expressed no view, with 36% thinking he had done well, and 23% badly. The positive figure was better than Sweden (18%), Denmark (24%), and France (33%), but nowhere near as good as in Germany (52%, the country from which he hails). Benedict’s performance was rated as good by 72% of British Catholics, 50% of all those professing a religion, 28% of non-Christians, and 26% of people without faith.

On specific aspects of his pontificate, Benedict was often judged to have been too conservative and to have changed things too little. In Britain 43% said that this had been true of theological issues such as women priests; 47% of moral issues such as birth control, abortion, and homosexuality; and 33% of social issues such as wealth and poverty. Catholics were as inclined to reach this verdict as the rest of the population. Otherwise, a principal difference by religious affiliation was the large number of ‘don’t knows’ to be found among non-Christians and those without religion.

In terms of Benedict’s political clout, only 9% of Britons considered that leading politicians in Britain had paid a great deal or a fair amount of notice to the views of Benedict and the British Catholic hierarchy, less than in Germany (33%) or France (18%), but fractionally more than in the Scandinavian countries. The overwhelming majority of Britons (71%), and even 78% of British Catholics, accepted that politicians had paid little or no notice to the pope and his bishops. Moreover, three-fifths of all Britons and 72% of the irreligious thought that politicians had been right not to have taken such notice, albeit 57% of Catholics disagreed.

More generally, respondents were asked whether four groups of religious leaders play a positive or negative role in the life of each country. In Britain (as can be seen from the table, below) a majority in three cases and a plurality in the other selected neither of these options, replying instead that they did not know or that the leaders made a limited impact on national life or that their role was equally positive and negative.

	Positive	Negative	Other
Protestant bishops and archbishops	21	22	57
Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops	16	33	51
Leading Jewish rabbis	19	17	64
Leading Muslim clerics	10	44	46

Among those expressing a clear opinion, Roman Catholic and Muslim leaders were especially seen in a critical light. Not unexpectedly, people who espoused a religion tended to be disproportionately more positive about religious leaders and the irreligious disproportionately more negative; however, when it came to Muslim leaders, both religious and irreligious were similarly negative. Catholics were most positive about their own bishops and archbishops.

On the characteristics of the next pope, many Britons could not get hugely exercised. They became most animated (in the sense of 44% saying they would be delighted) at the prospect of a pope who wanted to permit Catholic couples to use contraception. The proportion expressing delight at other scenarios was: a pope who advocated much stronger action to redistribute money within countries from rich to poor (24%); a pope who advocated that rich countries should spend far more on overseas aid (17%); a pope from Africa (11%); and a pope from South America (9%).

Religion and the current politico-economic situation

The YouGov Eurotrack study also included questions about current political and economic issues in Europe, the answers to which will be of interest to BRIN readers because they have been broken down by religious affiliation. Here we report on some of those for Britain alone, albeit the same level of detail is also available for the other five countries included in the survey.

Although most Britons (60%) disapprove of the Coalition Government’s record to date, the proportion is notably higher among those without a religion (65%) than those who profess some faith (56%), apart from Roman Catholics (68%, whose politics tend to be left-of-centre – see the next item, on the religious right). There is a corresponding gap in approval ratings of the Government: 32% by the religious (rising to 35% of non-Catholic Christians) and 20% of the faithless, with a national mean of 24%.

These judgments on the Government do not appear to correlate with perceived changes to the financial situation of respondents’ households during the previous twelve months. Whereas the religious are relatively more positive about the Government than the irreligious, it is the former whose households have suffered most: 60% reported that their finances had worsened a lot or a little against 51% of the religiously unaffiliated, with the number observing an improvement standing at 9% and 12% respectively.

On Britain’s membership of the European Union, people without religion (41%) were more likely than those with (33%) to say that they would vote in favour of continuing membership, in the event of a referendum being held, the national average being 36%. Nationally, 42% stated that they would vote to leave the European Union, comprising 49% of the religious and 38% of the irreligious. Among the religious, Catholics were most in favour of leaving (55%) and non-Christians the least (34%, with 43% wishing to stay in membership).

Naturally, it cannot be assumed that this spread of opinions is solely the function of the religion/irreligion factor, which is the only variable to be included in the YouGov tables. We know from other surveys that both religion and politics are independently impacted by secular demographics, and they will doubtless explain some of the variance noted above.

Religious right

In a new report from the Theos think-tank, Andy Walton (with Andrea Hatcher and Nick Spencer) asks Is There a ‘Religious Right’ Emerging in Britain? The question is answered in the negative, in the sense of there not being an American-style religious right at present, and the judgment being that there is little chance of one developing in the immediate future. Part of the evidence base for this conclusion is a ‘brief foray’ (pp. 34-45) into relevant social surveys, particularly the British Social Attitudes Surveys and the British Election Studies, although some use is also made of BRIN.

The findings which the authors particularly highlight are: a) the number of committed Christians in Britain is a relatively small proportion of the electorate, particularly in terms of evangelicals and Catholics, who form the backbone of the US religious right; b) only 9% of Britons with a religious affiliation say religion is very important in making political decisions, with less fixation with some of the specific issues which dominate the US political scene; and c) practising believers, albeit socially conservative, disproportionately espouse economic views which are left-of-centre, especially among Catholics. Is There a ‘Religious Right’ Emerging in Britain? can be found at:

http://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/files/files/Reports/IS%20THERE%20A%20RELIGIOUS%20RIGHT%20(NEW).pdf

Religion and education

The December 2012 issue (Vol. 33, No. 3) of Journal of Beliefs & Values is a special number, guest-edited by Elisabeth Arweck and Robert Jackson, devoted to religion and education. Specifically, it comprises a dozen articles reporting research projects which have been funded by the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme. Although the majority of contributions are of a qualitative nature, several authors deploy quantitative methods to varying degrees. From this standpoint, BRIN readers will probably be most interested in the two articles on young people’s attitudes to religious diversity by Leslie Francis and members of his research group (pp. 279-92, 293-307), which apply techniques from the psychology of religion and empirical theology. The papers include details of the theoretical underpinning, design and scope, and preliminary results of a study of approximately 10,000 years 9 and 10 pupils (aged 13-15) in state-maintained secondary schools in London, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. They report, respectively, on interim datasets of 3,020 and 5,993 cases.

An interesting revelation from the first paper is that ‘a negative view of Muslims is more prevalent among secular young people than among young people who are practising members of Christian churches. In this sense, Christianity is seen to promote acceptance, not rejection, of adherents of Islam.’ The second article illustrates how empathic capacity (in terms of attitudes to other religious groups) is more strongly related to God images than to religious affiliation or religious attendance. Secular factors (such as gender, neuroticism, and psychoticism) also make a difference in predicting the empathy of individuals. For titles, abstracts, and access options for all the articles in this special issue, go to:

http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjbv20/33/3

Posted in Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged Andrea Hatcher, Andy Walton, Coalition Government, conservatism, Denmark, education, Elisabeth Arweck, European Union, Eurotrack, Finland, France, Germany, household finances, Islam, Jewish leaders, Journal of Beliefs & Values, Leslie Francis, Muslim clerics, Nick Spencer, politicians, politics, Pope Benedict XVI, Religion and Society Programme, Religious Affiliation, Religious diversity, religious leaders, religious right, Robert Jackson, Roman Catholic Church, secondary schools, Sweden, Theos, YouGov, young people | Leave a comment

Climbing the Papal Mountain and Other News

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Today’s post covers three news stories, two of which test public reactions to the religious landscape following, respectively, the resignation of the Pope and last month’s four cases of alleged religious discrimination appealed to the European courts.

Climbing the papal mountain

As Pope Benedict XVI prepares to leave office at the end of this month, following the announcement of his resignation, his successor will have a veritable mountain to climb, if he is to hold together the Roman Catholic Church and improve its image and influence with non-Catholics.

In a post-resignation poll only about one-fifth (22%) of adults in Britain now consider the Catholic Church to be a force for good in the world, 45% disagreeing (and thus implicitly saying it is a force for ill), and 32% undecided. If we assume that all professing Catholics reckon their Church to be a force for good, then the corollary is that not much more than one-tenth of the rest of the population does so.

Among all Britons, the number in agreement with the proposition never rises above 28% for any major demographic group (and that for the over-65s, Welsh, and Scots), while dissentients represent a majority of the 45-64s, in the South and North-East of England, and among supporters of several smaller political parties.

Comparison with surveys around the time of the papal visit to Scotland and England in September 2010 indicates that the public standing of the Church has taken a real battering during the final two and a half years of Benedict XVI’s pontificate.

The current 22% positive rating of the Catholic Church contrasts with 31-33% recorded by Opinion Research Business in identical questions about the Church as a force for good on 14-16 and 22-24 September 2010 and 9-11 September 2011; with 41% by Ipsos MORI on 20-26 August 2010; and 47% by Populus on 10-12 September 2010.

Some commentators have argued that modernization of the Catholic Church demands the appointment of the next Pope from the developing rather than the developed world, reflecting the fact that it is in the former that the Church is growing while in the latter it is in decline, notably losing the battle against secularism in Western Europe. The possibility of an African Pope is often mentioned in this context, with Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana the most cited name and, currently, a bookie’s favourite.

Britons, however, do not seem hugely enthusiastic about the prospect of the Church moving in this direction. Asked whether ‘it would be a positive step for the Catholic Church if they chose an African for their next Pope’, 33% agree, with 19% disagreeing, and 48% having no opinion (and probably no real interest in the matter either). The groups most in favour of an African Pope are the 25-34s (42%), Scots (41%), and Labour voters (43%). Most opposed are men (24%), residents of South-West England (28%), and UKIP supporters (26%).

Source: The two questions about the Roman Catholic Church were included in the online regular political survey by ComRes for The Independent on Sunday and Sunday Mirror on 13-14 February 2013, although it appears that, in the end, neither newspaper made use of these particular findings. The sample comprised 2,002 Britons aged 18 and over. Full data appear on pp. 89-96 of the tables at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/IoS_SM_Political_Poll_Feb_2013.pdf

Wearing religious clothing and symbols at work

Public attitudes to the wearing of religious clothing and symbols in the workplace vary according to the clothing or symbol concerned and to the occupation of the person wearing it.

So finds new research commissioned in the wake of the four British cases of alleged faith discrimination recently adjudicated by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In one of them, the ECHR found against the UK Government in the action brought by Nadia Eweida, who was sent home by her employer (British Airways) in 2006 for refusing to remove a chain necklace with a small silver Christian cross.

In the study, opinion was sought about the entitlement to wear three religious items (a chain necklace with a Christian cross, a Jewish kippah/skullcap, and an Islamic burka) in four professional situations: flight attendant, nurse, teacher, and accountant. The number believing that people in the UK should be allowed to wear the item under each circumstance is as follows:

	Cross	Kippah	Burka
Flight attendant	81	68	22
Nurse	70	60	18
Teacher	77	68	22
Accountant	85	77	47
Mean	78	68	27

The table reveals greatest comfort with individuals wearing the Christian cross at work, albeit this is deemed somewhat less acceptable for a nurse than for the other three occupations. This caveat doubtless reflects recall of the case of Shirley Chaplin whose employers, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, had ordered the removal of her crucifix and chain on health and safety grounds. Chaplin had also appealed to the ECHR but, unlike Eweida, unsuccessfully. Opposition to a nurse wearing a cross peaked at 30% among the 18-24s and Liberal Democrat voters.

The Jewish article of clothing, the kippah, is deemed slightly less acceptable than the Christian symbol, with a mean score ten points lower. Some may find a slight hint of anti-Semitism here. However, a majority of adults still support its wearing in all four contexts, even by nurses where disagreement is greatest (30% overall, and rather more among the over-60s and Conservative voters).

But the burka worn by female Muslims finds no real favour at all, even when worn by an accountant, who is presumably less likely to come into regular contact with the public than a flight attendant, nurse, or teacher. Of course, the fact that the burka is so much larger and more ‘intrusive’ than the other two items (respondents were reminded that it covers the body and face) may well have influenced thinking.

Nevertheless, a plurality (47%) do endorse an accountant wearing a burka, whereas for the other three occupations opposition ranges from 67% to 72%. The over-60s are especially hostile, from 81% to a burka worn by a flight attendant to 86% when worn by a nurse, and a majority (51%) even arguing an accountant should not be allowed to wear it.

Public hostility to the burka has been evidenced in numerous other opinion polls during recent years, as already noted by BRIN. The garment is clearly widely seen as ‘un-British’ and as a manifestation of Muslim reluctance to integrate into mainstream society. Therefore, attitudes to the burka are inextricably bound up with views of Islam, about which there continue to be many reservations relative to Judaism and, still more, to Christianity which is still implicitly regarded as defining Britain’s heritage and culture.

The research is an interesting example of how principles of religious equality and liberty, to which most Britons would doubtless say they are committed, can be qualified when translated into real-life situations which are the cause of controversy and annoyance.

Source: Three online surveys undertaken among Britons aged 18 and over by YouGov for the YouGov-Cambridge think-tank: on 29-30 January 2013 (n = 1,939, on attitudes to the cross); 3-4 February 2013 (n = 1,712, on attitudes to the kippah); and on 30-31 January 2013 (n = 1,914, on attitudes to the burka). The results are discussed in a YouGov-Cambrdige blog post of 20 February 2013 at:

http://www.yougov.polis.cam.ac.uk/?p=4412

The detailed data tables are located at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/3xu7auqj0x/YGCam-Archive-results-300113-European-Court-Human-Rights.pdf

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/es1qzi4mv7/YGCam-Archive-results-040213-European-Court-Human-Rights-Kippah.pdf

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/ep1emkef5f/YGCam-Archive-results-310113-European-Court-Human-Rights-Burka.pdf

Anglican church-led social action

Four-fifths (82%) of parishes in the Church of England have provided informal support to people in their community who have requested help, and 54% run organized activities to address at least one local social need. The latter figure ranges from 39% of churches whose congregation numbers fewer than 50 people to 94% where it exceeds 250; and from 80% in parishes based on council estates to 47% in the most rural areas. More than one social need is being formally met in 29% of parishes. Activities most commonly offered are: support with school work (69%), care for the elderly (54%), and parent and toddler groups (51%). Food banks are managed by 28% of parishes, although this is now likely to be an underestimate.

Community problems being tackled, formally or informally, by more than two-thirds of parishes comprise lack of self-esteem/hope, homelessness, mental health, and family breakdown/poor parenting. At the other end of the spectrum, more than one-half of parishes admit to doing very little or nothing to alleviate poor housing, benefit dependency, unemployment, unhealthy lifestyles, low education, crime/anti-social behaviour, or low income. While working relationships with schools are active and very close in three-quarters of parishes, the same is true of less than one-fifth in the case of the police, poverty charities, councils, local businesses, and social services.

Source: Online sample survey of Anglican incumbents undertaken by the Church Urban Fund (CUF) on behalf of the Church of England in December 2011. Of the 2,960 clergy invited to participate, 865 or 30% did so. There was an under-representation of rural parishes and small churches in the responses. Key findings are summarized in Bethany Eckley, The Church in Action: A National Survey of Church-Led Social Action, newly published and available at:

http://www.cuf.org.uk/sites/default/files/Research/The_Church_in_Action_Church_Urban_Fund_2013.pdf

It should be noted that this is actually the third report to have been issued by CUF on this survey. The first was Growing Church Through Social Action: A National Survey of Church-Based Action to Tackle Poverty, prepared by Benita Hewitt of Christian Research Consultancy, the agency which undertook the fieldwork; and the second a four-page summary of it, Growing Church Through Social Action. As their titles imply, their focus was especially on the church growth aspects of the research. These earlier reports have already been discussed on BRIN at:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2012/church-growth-and-social-action/

Posted in News from religious organisations, Organisational data, Religion and Social Capital, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged accountants, African Pope, Anti-Semitism, Bethany Eckley, Burka, Christian cross, Christian Research Consultancy, Church of England, Church Urban Fund, clergy, ComRes, European Court of Human Rights, flight attendants, force for good, Independent on Sunday, Islamophobia, kippah, Nadia Eweida, nurses, papacy, parishes, Religious discrimination, religious dress, Roman Catholic Church, Shirley Chaplin, skullcap, social action, Sunday Mirror, teachers, workplace, YouGov, YouGov@Cambridge | Leave a comment

Lenten Intentions and Other News

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Clive D. Field

With Lent starting next Wednesday, 13 February, our lead story this week concerns what people say they will be giving up this year, but there is the usual miscellany of other religious statistical news items, too.

Lenten intentions

One-quarter (24%) of British adults said that they intended giving something up for Lent this year, when they were interviewed online by YouGov on 16-18 January 2013, about four weeks before the start of Lent. Chocolate (10%) headed the list of forfeits, followed by alcohol (4%), smoking (3%), and meat (2%).

The poll, of 2,222 persons, was commissioned by the Church Times as part of its sesquicentennial celebrations and is published (with the full data table) in the 8 February issue of the newspaper (p. 5). The article is freely available online at:

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2013/8-february/news/uk/(tropical)-fish-for-lent-%e2%80%94-young-to-give-up-most

The proportion planning to give something up for Lent varied by demographics, perhaps most interestingly by age. Whereas only one-fifth of the over-35s had abstinence on their mind, the number rose to 30% for the 25-34s and 35% for the 18-24s. Women (27%) aimed to be more observant than men (21%), and non-manuals (26%) more than manuals (22%). Geographically, Scots were least inclined to make any sacrifices (16%) and Midlanders the most (29%).

It would seem reasonable (if cynical) to assume that many of these good intentions will not translate into reality once Lent begins. Certainly, a YouGov poll on 22-23 February 2012, when Lent had already started, discovered that only 12% had actually given anything up. However, in age terms, it also found Lenten observance peaking among the 18-24s (19%), albeit the most dutiful group of all last year was the self-proclaimed very or fairly religious (28% of whom had given something up).

Respondents this year were additionally asked to write down, in free text, what they understood Lent to mean. Only 10% had to admit that they did not know what it was. A plurality (49%) described it as a time for giving things up, 43% as the period before Easter, 40% as a Christian festival, and 28% mentioned that it lasted 40 days or six weeks. These answers were not mutually exclusive. Possibly the most intriguing definition to be offered was that Lent is ‘a type of tropical fish’.

Opinion formers and same-sex marriage

An online survey of UK opinion formers (or ‘influentials’, drawn from politics, business, media, academia, non-governmental organizations, and the public sector), undertaken by YouGov in late January 2013, has revealed a division of view about the provisions of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill as regards the marriage of sex-sex couples in places of worship. Essentially, the Bill permits most religious organizations to conduct such marriages but on an opt-in basis, the exceptions being the Church of England and Church in Wales who are effectively banned from marrying same-sex couples.

Among influentials, 39% are in support of these provisions regarding same-sex marriages in places of worship, 38% are opposed, and 23% undecided. This spread of opinion was found to be consistent across political party lines. The proportion opposed to these provisions is lower than reject the whole concept of same-sex marriage (27%), perhaps suggesting that many influentials favour same-sex marriage but feel it should be possible to be conducted in places of worship without restriction, and not just in civil venues. Overall, 58% of influentials back same-sex marriage, a similar number to the British public in other recent YouGov surveys.

Full data are not yet available online, but there is a YouGov press release at:

http://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/02/07/uk-influentials-back-gay-marriage/

Catholic MPs and same-sex marriage

Notwithstanding the strong opposition to same-sex marriage of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales, the majority of Catholic MPs voted for the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill in the crucial Second Reading debate in the House of Commons on 5 February 2013. This is according to an analysis by The Tablet (9 February 2013, p. 30). Out of at least 82 Catholic MPs, 57% voted for the Bill, 34% against, and 9% did not register a vote. The figures of Catholic MPs for the three main political parties are:

	Con	LibDem	Lab
For the Bill	12	2	32
Against the Bill	11	2	15

Roman Missal

It is over a year since Catholic parishes in English-speaking countries started to use the revised English translation of the Missale Romanum edition tertia, which aimed to offer a more literal rendition of the Latin, replacing the translation introduced after Vatican II, with its emphasis on capturing the sense of the words.

However, ‘Catholic opinion remains split down the middle over the new English text of the Mass, an online survey by The Tablet has revealed. Catholics in the UK and Ireland are more critical of the document than their counterparts in the United States. Overall, 70 per cent of the clergy who responded to our questions are unhappy with the new text and want to see it revised’. The survey ran from 5 December 2012 to 9 January 2013.

A self-selecting (and thus potentially unrepresentative) group of 5,795 persons completed the questionnaire. Virtually all described themselves as practising Catholics attending Mass at least once a week. Of these 2,538 lived in the UK and Ireland.

A summary of the survey by Abigail Frymann and Elena Curti appears in the print edition of The Tablet for 9 February 2013 (pp. 8-9), as well as on the magazine’s website. On the latter will also be found eight detailed reports, of results for: all respondents; UK and Ireland; USA; Australia; clergy; religious and consecrated; those preferring the Ordinary Form; and those preferring the Extraordinary Form. These can be read at:

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/blogs/468/26

Focusing on the UK and Ireland data, we find that 63% of Catholics dislike the new translation against just 35% who like it, with 2% not noticing much difference. There has been some changing of minds: before its introduction, 5% were looking forward to the translation but now do not like it, whereas 7% were previously apprehensive but have grown to like the new translation. On the other hand, given the choice, only 22% elect for the new translation, 63% wanting to revert to the old translation, and 15% to the Latin version in either the Ordinary or Extraordinary Form.

Among the more unpopular features of the new text in the UK and Ireland are the ‘obsequious and distracting florid language’ (disapproved of by 64%), the ‘special language’ used to address God (60%), and the more formal style (59%). Three-quarters (76%) report that they always or sometimes see people around them in the pews struggling to follow the text, and 57% that the priest had experienced difficulties in saying the new eucharistic prayers (31% that he continues to do so). Three-fifths (62%) agree that the new translation requires urgent revision.

Mapping the 2011 religion census

The Office for National Statistics has released a searchable interactive map for the 2011 religion census of England and Wales, which will enable BRIN users to visualize the high-level (nine-category) religious profile of their local areas and to make comparisons with 2001. Go to:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/interactive/census-map-2-1—religion/index.html

Meanwhile, Alex Singleton (Lecturer in Geographic Information Science at the University of Liverpool) has launched the 2011 Census Open Atlas, utilizing the Key Statistics variables from the 2011 census of England and Wales to generate an atlas of vector PDF maps of the results for each local authority area. The high-level (nine-category) religion variable (KS209EW) is one of those to be mapped in each atlas. For more information, and to download each local atlas (note: the files are necessarily large), go to:

http://www.alex-singleton.com/2011-census-open-atlas-project/

Posted in News from religious organisations, Official data, Religion and Politics, Religion in the Press, Religious Census, Survey news, visualisation | Tagged Abigail Frymann, abstinence, Alex Singleton, Catholic MPs, census of population, Census Open Atlas, Church Times, Elena Curti, Lent, mapping, Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, Mass, Missale Romanum edition tertia, Office for National Statistics, opinion formers, places of worship, religious festivals, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Missal, same-sex marriage, The Tablet, YouGov | Leave a comment

More Census Data and Other News

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Clive D. Field

It is a matter of two quantitative steps forward and one back this week. On the upside, more religion data have been released from the 2011 census and new survey research has been commissioned for the 2013 Westminster Faith Debates. On the downside, the standard published source of national-level Roman Catholic statistics in England and Wales has been discontinued.

More census data

The Office for National Statistics released further micro-level data from the 2011 religion census of England and Wales on 30 January 2013. The following religion reference tables are now available in Excel format by clicking the links to ‘key statistics’ and ‘quick statistics’ at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-and-quick-statistics-for-parishes-and-parliamentary-constituencies-in-england-and-wales/index.html

TABLE KS209EW – 9 category classification of religion for:

regions, counties, London boroughs, districts, and unitary authorities in England and Wales
unitary authorities in Wales

TABLE QS210EW – 58 category classification of religion for:

regions, counties, London boroughs, districts, and unitary authorities in England and Wales
regions, counties, London boroughs, districts, unitary authorities, and wards in England and Wales
regions, districts, Middle Layer Super Output Areas, and Lower Layer Super Output Areas in England and Wales
unitary authorities in Wales
unitary authorities and electoral districts in Wales
Middle Layer Super Output Areas, Lower Layer Super Output Areas, and Output Areas in London
Ditto in Eastern England
Ditto in the East Midlands
Ditto in the North East
Ditto in the North West
Ditto in the South East
Ditto in the South West
Ditto in the West Midlands
Ditto in Wales
Ditto in Yorkshire and the Humber

Meanwhile, church statistician Peter Brierley has continued his analysis of the 2011 religion census data in the current issue (No. 25, February 2013) of FutureFirst, the bimonthly bulletin of Brierley Consultancy. There is an article on ‘Census Sense’ on pp. 1-2 of the main bulletin, and further detail on pp. 1-2 of an accompanying paper on ‘Religion, Age, and Gender from the 2011 Census’. Brierley is also offering (for £2) a 2,800-word report on Making Sense of the Census. For more information, contact Brierley Consultancy, 1 Thorpe Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent, TN10 4PW, email peter@brierleyres.com

In ‘Census Sense’ Brierley hypothesizes that the decrease of 3.8 million in the number of professing Christians in England between 2001 and 2011 is accounted for by an addition of 1 million new Christians less 4.3 million Christians who died during the decade less 0.5 million other losses to Christianity between 2001 and 2011.

In ‘Religion, Age, and Gender’ Brierley directly addresses the question of whether Christianity in Britain will die out. He concludes: ‘We are not yet in the final generation of Christians, and the next generation will not be the last either, but the Christian scene is likely to alter very considerably over the next 20 years or so’. He further suggests that ‘the Church of England’s actuaries forecasting that Anglican church attendance could drop 58% by 2030 is about right for most of the other denominations also’.

Westminster Faith Debates

The 2013 series of Westminster Faith Debates, which aims to ‘bring the best research and thinking on religion into public debate’, is about to commence. Organized by Professor Linda Woodhead of Lancaster University and Rt Hon Charles Clarke under the auspices of the Religion and Society Programme, the theme of the series is ‘Religion and personal life’. The debates take place in central London, as follows:

Wednesday, 13 February: ‘Stem cell research, abortion, and the “soul of the embryo”?’
Wednesday, 27 February: ‘Too much sex these days – the sexualisation of society?’
Thursday, 14 March: ‘Is it right for religions to treat men and women differently?’
Wednesday, 27 March: ‘What’s a traditional family and do we need it?’
Thursday, 18 April: ‘Do Christians really oppose gay marriage?’
Thursday, 2 May: Should we legislate to permit assisted dying?’

For full details of speakers and how to register to attend, go to:

http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk/faith_debates

To inform this year’s series of debates, the organizers have commissioned YouGov to conduct original online research into the issues which will be covered. Fieldwork took place on 25-30 January 2013 with 4,437 adult Britons, a much larger sample than in most opinion polls. In addition to three or four topical questions for each debate, there are a dozen or so background questions to measure the religion of respondents, thus permitting multiple cross-tabulations.

Results of this YouGov survey will be incrementally released in connection with each of the debates and will also be selectively covered on BRIN at the same time. To contextualize the findings, BRIN has researched comparative poll data for Britain since 2005. Also watch out for the series of articles linked to the debates which will be published in The Tablet on 9 and 23 February, 9 and 23 March, and 13 and 27 April.

Roman Catholic statistics

The 2013 edition of the annual (commercially published) Catholic Directory of England and Wales is the first for exactly a century not to include a section on Catholic statistics. In the absence of any central statistical unit in the English and Welsh Church, the Catholic Directory has long performed a useful public service in collating the figures gathered annually by each of the 22 dioceses. The volume and range of this information had already been thinned out by the Catholic Directory over recent years, but now it has come to a grinding halt.

The editor of the publication explains the decision to discontinue the statistical section thus: ‘For some time I have been troubled by the lack of consistency from one year to the next. Rather than publish potentially misleading information, it would be better to apply to the individual dioceses for up-to-date details as and when required’.

Even though the data were known to be of variable quality, and have been extensively critiqued by commentators such as Tony Spencer, the Catholic Directory has been an accessible national-level source, especially for those outside the Church. The editor’s advice to make enquiries of multiple dioceses is hardly helpful or practicable, especially for the all important pastoral and population statistics.

One can but hope that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales will now act to plug the hole. We understand that the Conference’s Department of Evangelisation and Catechesis is in the process of scoping a project to obtain a more accurate picture of the make-up of the Catholic community in England and Wales. This is to be warmly welcomed and, if implemented, would address the internal data requirements of the Church as well as the public interest, thereby avoiding potentially ill-founded estimates.

Posted in Attitudes towards Religion, News from religious organisations, Official data, Religion in public debate, Religious Census, Survey news | Tagged Catholic Directory of England and Wales, census of population, Charles Clarke, Linda Woodhead, Office for National Statistics, personal life, Peter Brierley, religious census, Roman Catholic Church, The Tablet, Tony Spencer, Westminster Faith Debates, YouGov | Leave a comment

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