Young people more grateful to God, study finds

A latest survey has suggested that 18 to 34 yr olds usually tend to be grateful to God and have transcendental experiences.

“Grateful Britain?” was commissioned by the Policy Institute of King’s College London and conducted by Opinium, who spoke to 2,050 adults in Britain in October.

Just over 1 / 4 (27 per cent) of those surveyed reported feeling “profound awe or wonder on the universe or nature” at the least once every week. However this rose to 38 per cent amongst those that professed a faith and to 36 per cent amongst those aged 18 to 34. Just over in a single in 10 (12 per cent) of respondents said they never had such feelings.

When asked in the event that they felt “connected to all people or living things” on a weekly basis, 22 per cent said yes, while 24 per cent said they never felt that way.

Most respondents (54 per cent) have experienced at the least once feeling “personally guided or watched over by something or someone”. Just under a 3rd (32 per cent) said that they had never had such an experience, rising to 47 per cent amongst those with no religion.

When asked in the event that they believed there may be a “guiding purpose in life, including their very own life”, 53 per cent said there was, in comparison with 31 per cent who answered no.

On the query of being thankful for the thrill of existence, 22 per cent said that each week they might feel “suddenly and deeply thankful to be alive”. Among 18 to 34 yr olds, the figure was 36 per cent.

When asked who or what they were thankful for, 34 per cent said nature, followed by other people and their very own inner selves which each received 31 per cent. God got here in at 28 per cent. Again, 18 to 34 yr olds were more more likely to thank God, at 42 per cent.

The report’s authors were cautious about claims of a “quiet revival” happening in British Christianity, particularly amongst young adults. The authors acknowledge a YouGov tracker that suggested the proportion of 18 to 24 yr olds who imagine in God nearly doubled from 19 per cent in 2022 to 37 per cent in 2025. They also cited a 2024 British Social Attitudes survey that said 60 per cent of 18 to 34 yr olds haven’t any religion, greater than some other age group.

However, they are saying, “We get quite different indications of belief in larger, dearer studies using random probability methods, relatively than the opt-in panels typically utilized in polling.”

“This doesn’t mean there are not any shifts happening among the many young. Part of the effect could also be as a consequence 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 affix 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.”

Despite the sceptical tone of the report’s authors, anecdotal evidence suggests there may be indeed some type of revival occurring within the country.

Speaking to Church Times, Dr Michael Volland, the Bishop of Birmingham, said, “We are hearing from churches across the region and more widely that there are signs of a latest openness to faith including — and even especially — from the younger generation.” 

He added, “In my very own diocese we’re seeing young people arrive at churches with a desire to affix 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.”

A spokesman for the Bible Society, welcomed the findings saying that that it “seems vanishingly improbable that an increase in religious practice and belief in God might be accounted for just by religious young people being more more likely to join survey panels since 2022”.