Age and Religion | Beliefs in Society | AQA A-Level Sociology

welcome to this tutor to you sociology topic video on beliefs in society focusing on age and religion despite evidence of increasing secularization in western society there are different religious beliefs by social grouping social class gender and ethnicity all impact on the religious beliefs that individuals display but one of the most consistent social

factors impacting on religious belief is age in the uk the elderly are more likely to define themselves by their religious affiliation suggesting that religious belief forms part of their identity in 2018 a social attitude survey found that 33 of those aged over 75 define themselves as anglican that is belonging to the church of england

in comparison only one percent of 18 to 24 year olds in the same survey define themselves in this way sociologists generally accept that this is part of a wider trend that demonstrates greater religious belief the older individuals become in this video we're going to examine some of the reasons why this is the case

further evidence that examines the distribution of religious belief by age is found in the uk census in the most recent reported census a third of those who identified as having no religious beliefs were under the age of 25. in 2005 really found an increase in the average age for church attendance had risen from 37 to 49

now this can be attributed to secularization amongst the young but equally it can be attributed to the aging population in the uk however in comparison to figures for christian religions 88 of those identifying as muslims were under the age of 50 which suggests that perhaps secularization is largely based within christian religions there are several reasons offered by