Organised religion is in near-terminal decline in Britain because parents have only a 50-50 chance of passing on belief to their offspring, a study claimed yesterday.By contrast, parents without faith are successful in producing a new generation of non-believers, it said.
The report identified institutional religion as having a "half-life" of one generation, as children are only half as likely as their parents to say that it is important in their lives.
The generational decline is too advanced to reverse, the report suggested, as the proportion of people who believe in God is declining faster than church attendance.
Dr David Voas, who oversaw the study at the University of Manchester, said religion would reach "fairly low levels" before very long.
"The dip in religious belief is not temporary or accidental, it is a generational phenomenon - the decline has continued year on year," he said. "The fact that children are only half as likely to believe as their parents indicates that, as a society, we are at an advanced stage of secularisation."
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