RELATIVELY high levels of belief in God and experiences of transcendence have been reported by 18- to 34-year-olds, in a survey commissioned by the Policy Institute of King’s College, London.
This cohort was consistently more prone to respond affirmatively than older age groups when asked about feelings of thankfulness, awe, and wonder.
The report Grateful Britain?, published on Christmas Eve, draws on an Opinium survey of 2050 UK adults in October.
One quarter (27 per cent) said that they felt “profound awe or wonder on the universe or nature” not less than weekly. This rose to 38 per cent for individuals who said that they belonged to a faith, and 36 per cent for the youngest cohort (18 to 34). Overall, 12 per cent said that they never had such feelings.
Almost one quarter (22 per cent) of the respondents said that they felt “connected to all people or living things” not less than once every week, but a rather greater share — 24 per cent — said that they never experienced such a sense. This fell to 16 per cent within the youngest cohort.
More than half of the respondents (54 per cent) reported that “at one point or one other they’ve felt personally guided or watched over by something or someone.” One third (32 per cent) said that they “never” felt this. This rose to 47 per cent for individuals who didn’t belong to a faith.
The same proportion (53 per cent) reported believing that there was a “guiding purpose in life, including their very own life”, compared with 31 per cent who didn’t. The youngest cohort were rather more prone to consider this (69 per cent).
One in five (22 per cent) said that they felt “suddenly and deeply thankful to be alive” not less than weekly, rising to 36 per cent of the 18-to-34s.
Most respondents said that they were thankful for their very own life, others of their lives, and all of life on the whole. When asked “Who or what do you are feeling thankful to?”, the most well-liked answer was “nature” (34 per cent), followed by “other people” and “my very own inner self” (each 31 per cent), and “God” (28 per cent). Eighteen- to 34-year-olds were about twice as likely as older categories to say that they felt thankful to God, at 42 per cent.
In total, 59 per cent of the respondents said that they didn’t think that belief in God or a Higher Power was essential for people to feel thankful for all times or existence.
The report includes commentary under the title “Are young people really more thankful, religious and spiritual?” which sounds a sceptical note.
A YouGov long-term tracker found that the proportion of 18- to 24-year-olds who said that they believed that there was a God had roughly doubled in recent times, from 19 per cent in 2022 to 37 per cent in 2025.
But the report argues that “we get quite different indications of belief in larger, dearer studies using random probability methods, moderately than the opt-in panels typically utilized in polling.” It goes on to check the outcomes of the Opinium survey with the Policy Institute’s World Values Survey within the UK, last conducted in 2022.
In the Opinium survey, 39 per cent of the respondents said that they “consider in God to some extent”, rising to 52 per cent within the youngest cohort. This group was the least prone to say that they weren’t religious in any respect (33 per cent) or spiritual in any respect (21 per cent).
In the World Values Survey, belief in life after death amongst 18- to 34-year-olds was nine percentage points lower, and belief in heaven was 14 percentage points lower.
The report also notes that, within the British Social Attitudes survey of 2024, greater than 60 per cent of the 18-to-34s identified as having “no religion” — the very best of any cohort.
It continues: “This doesn’t mean there are not any shifts happening among the many young. . . Part of the effect could also be as a result of the changing composition of young people, particularly the increased ethnic and non secular diversity amongst younger generations. . .
“While the explanations online samples may over-represent religious belief amongst young persons are comprehensible (that it’s an unusual population of young individuals who will want to hitch online panels), it’s less clear why this has modified so markedly in such a brief time period: as recently as 2022, the YouGov tracker of belief in God showed nothing unusual in young people’s beliefs.”
Responding to the report on Tuesday, the Bishop of Birmingham, Dr Michael Volland, said: “We are hearing from churches across the region and more widely that there are signs of a recent openness to faith including — and even especially — from the younger generation.”
The Church of England had “a beautiful opportunity to nurture the spiritual curiosity of young people by continuing to be deliberate about welcome and by creating spaces for encounter with the living God; spaces where those that gather can reflect on life’s biggest questions as they draw on a deep well of scriptural wisdom,” he said. “In my very own diocese we’re seeing young people arrive at churches with a desire to hitch in and discover more. They are hungry for faith, for meaning, for hope and to belong to a community that practises the unconventional, life-giving teaching of Jesus.”
Debbie Clinton, who heads the Church of England’s Vision and Strategy work, said: “We are noticing that a generation once labelled spiritually disengaged is starting to rewrite the narrative. Many churches are reporting young adults newly attending, with a hunger for authentic faith and purpose —with stories of numbers of baptisms and confirmations of young adults in a wide selection of traditions and contexts. Testimonies we hear actually reflect the thankfulness, awe and wonder of the gospel.”
Church House had commissioned qualitative research to know recent church-going patterns amongst young adults within the C of E, she said, with plans to share the findings in the course of the first half of 2026.
A Bible Society spokesman described the Opinium data as “one other high-quality survey from a respected pollster showing — like Bible Society’s The Quiet Revival report — greater openness amongst young adults not only to organised religion, but to wider facets of spirituality and transcendence.”
The World Values Survey showed “a shift in spirituality amongst young adults as early as 2022, and largely aligns with our own data,” he said. “It’s clear from multiple data sources that this has only accelerated since then, and while different methodologies will produce different results, the image emerging is compelling.”
Noting that the Policy Institute “stays sceptical in regards to the findings of its own report,” he suggested that it “seems vanishingly improbable that an increase in religious practice and belief in God may very well be accounted for just by religious young people being more prone to join survey panels since 2022”.
The Church Times event “Springtime for the Church of England: Where are we seeing growth?” on 31 January will include Dr Ken Eames, of the C of E’s Research and Statistics Unit, discussing what light church data shed on the topic. To book tickets, click here.
