Family and Marriage

More than four in 10 people over the age of 16 in the UK are married, while another three in 10 describe themselves as single or never married. Another 8 per cent of people are divorced, while just over 8 per cent are widowed and 7 per cent have re-married. 30 per cent of families have children. By far the highest proportion of single people — 50.1 per cent — can be found in inner London.

About 60 per cent of the population live as a couple — just over 50 per cent of these are married or re-married, while almost another 10 per cent are cohabiting³. Cohabiting has doubled since 1991. Of the four countries, England has the highest proportion of non-married cohabitees — 9.9 per cent, while Northern Ireland's fig­ure is significantly lower, at just 4.26 per cent. Northern Ireland also has the small­est number of divorcees — 4.1 per cent (a result of a strong influence of the Catholic Church), while Wales has the highest — 8.7 per cent.

Almost one in three families have children. Newham in London has the high­est proportion of children under five-years-old — just over 17 per cent. The social fabric of families is changing. Some 11 per cent of non-married couples have chil­dren and just over a fifth of households are lone-parents (usually a single mother), the 2001 census found.

Religion

Every religion in the world is represented in the United Kingdom, from Hindu and Muslim to Buddhist and Zoroastrian. While the UK is basically secular, it is also overwhelmingly Christian. Since St. Augustine brought Christianity to England's shores, it has been the official religion of the land.

There are two established churches in Britain: in England — the Anglican Church of England (formed in 1534 by King Henry VIII), and in Scotland — the Presbyterian Church of Scotland (established by the Treaty of Union in 1707). The Monarch is the 'Supreme Governor' of the Church of England, which is divided into two provinces: Canterbury and York. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church and resides at Canterbury Cathedral or at Lambeth palace in London. The Archbishop of York is the leader of the northern province and resides at York Minster.

In England proper the highest number of Christians is found in north-east England (80.1 per cent). In Scotland, the picture remains largely unchanged. The Church of Scotland is still the dominant form of Christianity with 42.4 per cent. In some areas there are so few people of other religions they may comprise no more than one family here or there.

As expected, the highest concentration of other religions is found in London. The capital has the highest proportion of the nation's Muslims (8.5 per cent), Hindus (4.1 per cent), Jews (2.1 per cent) and Buddhists (0.8 per cent). Muslims have now emerged as the second largest religion in the UK (the first place tradition­ally belongs to Christians), comprising 2.7 per cent of the population and some 1.5 million people. But some academics say the figure may already be much higher because of the arrival of more refugees from Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia. The Islamic Cultural Centre is one of the most important Muslim institutions in Western Europe. The Central London Mosque (part of this Centre) was opened by King George VI in November 1944.

Across the UK, growing numbers of people no longer believe in the need for church membership, or even virtues of church attendance. They still, overwhelming­ly, believe in God or a higher power, but, increasingly, they do not complement this with membership of an institutional church or regular attendance.

According to UK Religious Trends, a comprehensive and reliable survey of British religious life, in the past 20 years the number of adults regularly attending church has fallen from 10.9 per cent to 8.2 per cent — nearly a million fewer people. In 20 years, Roman Catholic attendance at mass has fallen from 2.4 million to 1.7 million; Anglican electoral roll numbers are down from nearly 2.2 million to under 1.6 million; Methodist membership down from 520,000 to about 366,000; while Presbyterian is expected to fall from 1.4 million to under 1 million.

The only exception is Northern Ireland. The religion figures for Ulster released after the 2001 census revealed a rise in the number of Catholics, but not as much as expected. In general terms, 60 per cent of the population in Ulster is Protestant and 40 per cent — Catholic. Northern Ireland also has the highest number of people declining to state their religion — some 13.9 per cent.