Marie Curie ComRes poll shows 37% have no religion

A ComRes poll for Marie Curie Cancer Care is the latest to ask people about their religious affiliations.

Although the poll is primarily about "perceptions of death", it included the question "which of the following religious groups do you consider yourself to be a member of?"

Of the 2,601 questioned, 53% said they were Christian, 37% said they had no religion, 8% were other religions and 2% did not say.

The number professing no religion peaked among the under-45s (49% for the 18–24s, 46% for the 25–34s, 43% for the 35–44s), falling to 22% with the over-65s. There was also an above-average proportion of 'nones' in the lowest (DE) social group (42%), among private sector workers (42%), in the North East (42%), and in the South East (44%).

People who reported that somebody close to them (a relative or friend) had died in the last three years were somewhat less likely to declare themselves to have no religion (35%) than those who had not been bereaved on this timescale (39%); they were also more prone to say that they were Christian (55% against 52%). Perhaps the proximity of death still exercises a marginal pull towards the religiosity end of the religious-secular spectrum?

For more detail, see Table 43 on pages 104/5 of the poll: Perceptions of Death Survey (pdf).