Contrary to conventional wisdom, a new survey reveals that young people are less likely than their elders to embrace atheism. The OnePoll survey found that 13 percent of adults ages 18-24 in the United Kingdom consider themselves atheists -- a percentage that is less than that of adults in every other age group, including those ages 25-44 and 65 and up, of whom about 20 percent call themselves atheist.

Additionally, adults ages 18-24 in the U.K. are more likely than any other age group to say they are spiritual, with 62 percent adopting that label. That number surpasses the percentage for those ages 65 and up (35 percent), 55-64 (36 percent), and 35-44 (52 percent).

The Daily Mail newspaper covered the survey under the headline, “God makes a comeback in Gen Z.” It involved interviews with 10,000 people.

The data doesn’t mean young people are openly embracing Christianity -- at least not yet. But it does indicate they are more open to faith than their elders.

Freya Stewart-Williams, a 20-year-old from London, is one of those who are open to spirituality. She grew up in a Christian home and felt that God was “something I didn’t want to believe in” yet she still had “the feeling that something is out there,” she told The Times.

She formerly worked in a “crystals” shop.

“The main demographic [of customers] was people in their early twenties,” she said. “We classed ourselves as a ‘spirituality shop.’ With the rise of TikTok and social media, there was a massive trend for it during the first lockdown. I think the openness this generation has when talking about mental health and accepting that we all experience different states of mind has been a massive driver for people being more open to spirituality.”

Of the 10,000 individuals surveyed, 54 percent said they are Christian, 27 percent atheist, and 6 percent Muslim.

The U.K. data, though, does not match data in the United States, where older generations generally are more religious than younger generations. A 2023 Gallup survey, for example, found that 87 percent of U.S. adults ages 65 and older consider themselves either religious or spiritual, compared to 73 percent of adults 18-29.

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