LARGE numbers of Scots are turning away from
the religious faiths they were born into, according to new figures.
The results of the 2001 census revealed a swing of some 8 per
cent away from organised religions, with more than a quarter of the population
now saying they have no faith.
The biggest religion is still the Church of Scotland, with 42.4
per cent of the population, but the census indicated a drop-off rate of just
under 5 per cent, with 47 per cent saying they were brought up in the Kirk.
The Roman Catholic Church has also seen a decline in numbers,
with some 16 per cent saying they were still practising Catholics compared with
17 per cent who were brought up in the faith. Twenty-eight per cent of people
now say they have no faith.
Last night, church representatives said patterns of worship had
changed, but stressed that nearly 75 per cent of the population still
considered themselves Christian.
The Rev Douglas Nicol, the general secretary of the Church of
Scotland’s board of national mission, said: "By the autumn, we should have
these statistics in parish-sized bites and, both nationally now and locally
then, they should give an incentive to develop new models of the Church with
the recognition that there are in Scotland many who still claim to be within
the fold, but who may not go to Church."
A spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church added: "We accept
that numbers are down, but the fact that in a highly materialistic and
atheistic culture, substantial numbers of people still think of their faith as
important is extremely heartening.
"In the 1960s, nearly everyone went to the church on a
Sunday whether they wanted to or not. Now there is a strength of belief behind
church-going which is also encouraging."
The detailed results of the census, which is carried out every
ten years, confirmed the continued decline of the nuclear family, with fewer
people marrying, single parent families increasing and more people living
alone.
The proportion of the population who were married fell by 4 per
cent to 54 per cent in 2001, while the number of single people who have never
married rose by 4 per cent to 31 per cent.
Only 42.5 per cent of families were made up of married couples,
down from more than half a decade ago. Families of cohabiting couples doubled
to 6.9 per cent and lone mother families rose to 9.6 per cent.
The census results also showed that ethnic minority groups have
increased significantly, accounting for some 2 per cent of the population in
2001 compared with only 1.3 per cent in 1991. The largest ethnic minority
groups were Pakistani, Chinese and Indian, although the overall percentage of
ethnic minorities was still well below that of England.
The England and Wales census showed that two areas in Britain
have more blacks and Asians than white people for the first time ever. White
people made up 39.4 per cent of those living in the borough of Newham, east
London, and 45.3 per cent in Brent, in the north-west of the city.
The overall ethnic minority population of England and Wales rose
from 6 per cent in 1991 to 9 per cent in 2001.
The number of English-born residents in Scotland also increased
from 7 per cent to 8 per cent.
As far as the health of the nation goes, there was a large
increase in recorded long-term illness. Twenty per cent of the Scottish
population said that they had a long-term illness, health problem or disability
compared with just 14 per cent in 1991.
The highest rates of illness were recorded in Glasgow and North
Lanarkshire, while Aberdeenshire, East Renfrewshire and the Shetland Islands
enjoyed the lowest long-term illness rates.
The proportion of men in full-time employment fell from 55 per
cent in 1991 to just 51 per cent in 2001.
The highest overall unemployment rates were found in Glasgow,
Dundee and Ayrshire while the lowest was in the Shetland Islands.
One third of people between the ages of 16 and 74 said they had
no qualifications. However, more households owned cars and there was an 8 per
cent increase in the number of people travelling to work by car to 64 per cent.
Travel by bus fell from 16 per cent in 1991 to 13 per cent.
Despite the figures, the Scottish Executive insisted that the
labour market in the country remained buoyant, with unemployment half what it
was in 1991 and employment at its highest level for a generation.
A spokesman said: "As a result of our economic strategy,
more young people than ever are continuing their education past the age of 16,
which has resulted in a much higher percentage of this group being in part-time
rather than full-time employment."
The Executive said it was implementing a range of programmes
which would drive up academic achievement and improve the health of the nation.
The spokesman added that about 5 per cent of pupils now left
school without qualifications and that investment in lifelong learning was a
key priority.
In a strange twist to the survey, 390,000 Star Wars fans gave
their religion as Jedi because of an internet campaign running at the time.
The fans of the science fiction saga had been encouraged to
enter Jedi as their faith in the mistaken belief that if 10,000 did so, it
would be recognised as an official religion.
However, the numbers were placed among the 7.7 million people
who said they had no religion.