Research by the secular Policy Institute at King’s College London claims that most members of the British public do not think belief in God is needed to feel thankful for life or existence. 

The institute carried out the research with Opinium, which involved a nationally representative survey of 2,050 people aged 18-plus between Oct. 23 and Oct. 24, 2025.  

The study marked the recent Associateship of King’s College lecture by Dr King-Ho Leung, Lecturer in Theology, Philosophy and the Arts at King’s College London, titled “Re-thinking the Purpose of Thinking”, which explores the relationship between thinking and thanking.

In a Policy Institute press release (December 2025), Leung pointed out there had been “very interesting philosophical debates on the feeling of thankfulness for life or existence among non-religious or non-theist people.”

“If there is no God or creator, to whom is one thankful?” said Leung. “Do non-theistic people actually feel such existential gratitude? Does one need to believe in God to feel thankful for existence? While it is not surprising that a religious believer would feel thankful (namely, to God) for their existence, it is not clear if the non-religious or the non-theist would feel the same.”

Findings from the study showed that one in five Britons feel 'suddenly and deeply thankful to be alive' on a weekly basis — while one in seven never feel this way. The research also showed that religious belief did increase people’s “likelihood” of feeling thankful, although the research results did not disclose the specific religious affiliations of those surveyed.

However, a clear majority of non-religious people have felt “suddenly and deeply thankful”, and 59% of the public do not think belief in God or a Higher Power is essential for people to feel thankful for life or existence, according to the press release. 

This compares to 22% who see belief in God as essential to thankfulness. Furthermore, religious people are split on whether belonging to a religion is essential for this kind of thankfulness with 41% saying it is, and 42% saying it is not.  

Religious people are more likely than non-religious to be thankful for their own lives (85% vs. 73%) and life in general (81% vs 68%).

Even so, there is “little difference in thankfulness for other people in their life, with 91% of people belonging to a religion feeling thankful for them, compared with 87% of those not affiliated with a religion.”

Survey respondents directed their thankfulness to a variety of things with 28% thankful to God. This compares to nature (34%), other people (31%), and their own inner self (31%).

Meanwhile, the Christmas season made little impact on thankfulness for life, for both religious and non religious with 56% saying it makes no difference. 36% said the festive season did make them more thankful and 3% said it actually made them less thankful.  

“This survey reveals that a large portion of the British public thinks that one does not need to believe in God or a higher power to feel thankful for existing. Indeed, the vast majority of the public, including many who are non-religious and non-theist, say that [they] feel thankful for their own lives, for others’ lives, or indeed for life in general,” said Leung. 

“This study shows that thankfulness for life or what we may call ‘existential gratitude’ is a widespread human disposition and experience shared by the religious and non-religious alike. The findings call for further investigations into the nature of such existential gratitude and how this experience may relate to both religious and non-religious ways of understanding human life and meaning-making.”

In regards to young people, the study acknowledged that they have “greater feelings of wonder, awe and thankfulness, as well as belief in fate, than older people”

“But the researchers caution that there are reasons to doubt that these results fully and accurately reflect reality,” added the press release, which questioned whether a report by the Bible Society reporting a “Quiet Revival” was accurate. The report was based on a YouGov Survey indicating church attendance rising from 8% in 2018 to 12% in 2024, with an upsurge in rates of 4% to 16% among 18- to 24-year-olds in this period.  

“They say there has been controversy over a supposed ‘Quiet Revival’ in religious belief and practice among the young, with a debate over the extent to which online panel surveys – such as that which this current study is based on – accurately reflect changes in young people’s attitudes and behaviours on these issues.”

An example given is a YouGov long-term tracker that found those aged 18 to 24 who do believe in God have doubled from 19% in 2022 to 37% in 2025. Another uncited study, noted in the press release, suggested members of Gen Z are now much less likely than older generations to identify as atheists. 

“However, the researchers say there are significant reasons for caution at the scale of this change, not least because larger, more expensive studies using random probability methods have not yet detected similar shifts,” added the press release. 

Professor Bobby Duffy, Director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, described the difference in worldviews on thankfulness, awe and wonder across segments of the population as “striking.” He referenced the data showing one in seven experienced such feelings on a daily basis, and one in seven saying they never feel that way at all. 

“These are not things we normally discuss or measure, but are important aspects how we feel about ourselves and our place in the world,” said Duffy. 

“The much higher levels of thankfulness, awe and wonder seen among young are a more contested finding, as there are good reasons to think we may not be properly representing these groups and their views in online panel surveys, such as this. 

“This is important to get right, as it has kicked off debates about whether we really are seeing a ‘Quiet Revival’ in spirituality and religiosity in young people. We’ll conduct more experiments on this in 2026, as part of the World Values Survey programme that we run in the UK, to get a more definitive answer on whether and how young people’s spirituality is changing.”