More young people in Britain believe that religion is a cause of evil rather than a force for good, according to a new YouGov poll.
The place of religion in the lives of 18-24 year olds is smaller than ever, with politicians, brand names and celebrities having more influence than religious figures in the day-to-day decisions of young people.
Additionally, the YouGov poll for The Sun showed the reputation of religion amongst young people is actually more negative than neutral: 41% agree that “religion is more often the cause of evil in the world” and only 14% say it is a cause for good.
The results of the YouGov poll showed parents had the biggest influence on young people's lives
The 2011 Census showed religion was declining, with those identifying themselves as having no religion has increased by 10 percentage points from 15%, 7.7 million people, in 2001 to 25%, 14.1 million, last year.
Around 59% of the population described themselves as Christian and only a quarter reported having no religion. However amongst young people, the YouGov poll found only 25% believed in God.
This was considerably less than the 38% who professed to not believe in any God or spiritual power whatsoever, while 19% said they believed in some non-Godlike “spiritual greater power.”
A Church of England spokesperson said: "It is unsurprising that this sample of less than 1,000 people gives a different result than a Census of tens of millions of people. Even then these figures show more people choosing belief over non-belief. “