A traditional, Christian "white wedding"

There are approximately 27 millions Anglicans (of the Church of England), as well as Roman Catholics, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, and Jews. There are a wide variety of accents in the UK, and only a tiny percentage of the population uses "Received Pronunciation", which is heard on the BBC World Service.

Education, health and social work, and manufacturing are the largest areas of employment. Tourism is becoming a major employer, and in 1996, 26 million business and pleasure visitors came to the UK from overseas. The Royal residencies, including Buckingham Palace in London, are particularly popular attractions.

The National Health Service (NHS) was introduced by the Labour government in 1945 and became the cornerstone of the welfare state. It continues to provide free health care for UK citizens, but over the past two decades the government has contained the growth of social welfare programmes. People are usually required to stop working in their 60s (60 years old for women and 65 for men) and they spend the rest of their lives in retirement, sometimes trying to survive on very small pensions provided by the government. Sixteen year olds can get married with their parents’ consent, but they are not legally adults until they are aged 18.

Many voluntary organisations which work in the UK, including Oxfam GB, claim that poverty is on the increase, and because of this millions of people feel powerless and excluded from society. In 1990 around seven million people were dependent on Income Support, a benefit payment which is provided by the government. It is not known exactly how many people are homeless because of poverty and the breakdown of families.