Religion or belief
Key findings
- the overall number of employees who shared their religion/belief increased by 2.8% compared to last year
- 'not known' responses down by 6.4% compared to last year
- 28.8% of the workforce identify as Christians (up 2.7% from last year)
- 28.3% of the workforce state they have no religion
- 1% identify as Muslim
- 0.3% identify as Buddhist
- 0.3% identify as Hindu
- 0.2% identify as Jewish
- 2.1% selected other
- 10.1% of council employees chose not to share their religious beliefs (in the wider community it's 6%)
Religion/belief data
Buddhist
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 0.4% |
| 2020/21 | 0.3% |
| 2021/22 | 0.3% |
| 2022/23 | 0.3% |
| Southend Census data (2021) | 0.5% |
Christian
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 28.8% |
| 2020/21 | 26.8% |
| 2021/22 | 26.1% |
| 2022/23 | 28.8% |
| Southend Census data (2021) | 42.6% |
Hindu
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 0.3% |
| 2020/21 | 0.2% |
| 2021/22 | 0.3% |
| 2022/23 | 0.3% |
| Southend Census data (2021) | 1.1% |
Jewish
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 0.3% |
| 2020/21 | 0.2% |
| 2021/22 | 0.2% |
| 2022/23 | 0.2% |
| Southend Census data (2021) | 1.1% |
Muslim
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 0.7% |
| 2020/21 | 0.7% |
| 2021/22 | 0.9% |
| 2022/23 | 1.0% |
| Southend Census data (2021) | 3.0% |
No religion
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 22.8% |
| 2020/21 | 22.1% |
| 2021/22 | 24.4% |
| 2022/23 | 28.3% |
| Southend Census data (2021) | 44.9% |
Other
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 2.0% |
| 2020/21 | 1.9% |
| 2021/22 | 2.0% |
| 2022/23 | 2.1% |
| Southend Census data (2021) | 0.6% |
Sikh
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 0.0% |
| 2020/21 | 0.0% |
| 2021/22 | 0.1% |
| 2022/23 | 0.1% |
| Southend Census data (2021) | 0.1% |
Prefer not to say
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 12.9% |
| 2020/21 | 11.7% |
| 2021/22 | 10.4% |
| 2022/23 | 10.1% |
| Southend Census data (2021) | 6% |
These findings show:
- an increased number of employees sharing their beliefs
- an insight into the religious diversity within the council
- that council staff are less likely to share details of their faith compared to the local community
- how important it is to respect people choices
- the importance of adopting an inclusive environment that accommodates diverse beliefs and values