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Religious affiliation, religiosity, and male and female fertility

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  • Li Zhang

    (China University of Political Science and Law)

Abstract

Religious studies of fertility typically focus on the effect of religious affiliation on fertility; the role of religiosity in determining fertility remains overlooked. Meanwhile, most studies focus on studying female fertility; whether religion and religiosity have significantly different impacts on men’s and women’s fertility rarely has been examined. To fill these gaps, this study uses data from the 2002 NSFG Cycle 6 on religious affiliation, religiosity, and children ever born (CEB) for both men and women to investigate the effects of religious affiliation and religiosity on male and female fertility. A series of hypotheses which aim to demonstrate the critical role of religiosity, particularly the importance of religious beliefs in people’s daily life in shaping people’s fertility behavior are tested. The findings show a shrinking pattern of fertility differentials among religious groups. However, religiosity, particularly religious beliefs, shows a substantially positive effect on fertility. The gender interaction terms are not significant which indicates that the effects of religion and religiosity on fertility do not vary by gender.

Suggested Citation

  • Li Zhang, 2008. "Religious affiliation, religiosity, and male and female fertility," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 18(8), pages 233-262.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:18:y:2008:i:8
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2008.18.8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Barbara S. Okun, 2013. "Fertility and marriage behavior in Israel," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 28(17), pages 457-504.
    3. Janetta Nestorová Dická & Filip Lipták, 2024. "Regional fertility predictors based on socioeconomic determinants in Slovakia," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 1-43, September.
    4. Karin Hoisl & Myriam Mariani, 2017. "It’s a Man’s Job: Income and the Gender Gap in Industrial Research," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(3), pages 766-790, March.
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    6. Branislav Šprocha & Branislav Bleha & Gabriela Nováková, 2022. "Three Decades of Post‐Communist Fertility Transition in a Subnational Context: The Case of Slovakia," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 113(4), pages 397-411, September.
    7. David de la Croix & Clara Delavallade, 2018. "Religions, Fertility, And Growth In Southeast Asia," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 59(2), pages 907-946, May.
    8. Nicholas Campisi & Hill Kulu & Júlia Mikolai & Sebastian Klüsener & Mikko Myrskylä, 2020. "A spatial perspective on the Nordic fertility decline: the role of economic and social uncertainty in fertility trends," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2020-036, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    9. Edith Gray & Ann Evans & Jon Anderson & Rebecca Kippen, 2010. "Using Split-Population Models to Examine Predictors of the Probability and Timing of Parity Progression," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 26(3), pages 275-295, August.
    10. Charles Westoff & Emily Marshall, 2010. "Hispanic Fertility, Religion and Religiousness in the U.S," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 29(4), pages 441-452, August.
    11. Sam Hyun Yoo & Victor Agadjanian, 2021. "The paradox of change: Religion and fertility decline in South Korea," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(23), pages 537-562.
    12. Christoph Bein & Anne H. Gauthier & Monika Mynarska, 2021. "Religiosity and Fertility Intentions: Can the Gender Regime Explain Cross-Country Differences?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 37(2), pages 443-472, April.
    13. Donata Bessey, 2018. "Religion and Fertility in East Asia: Evidence from the East Asian Social Survey," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 517-532, August.
    14. Djundeva, Maja & Szalma, Ivett, 2018. "What shapes public attitudes towards assisted reproduction technologies?," OSF Preprints ymhbt, Center for Open Science.
    15. William Axinn & Cynthia Link & Robert Groves, 2011. "Responsive Survey Design, Demographic Data Collection, and Models of Demographic Behavior," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(3), pages 1127-1149, August.
    16. Thomas Baudin, 2015. "Religion and fertility: The French connection," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(13), pages 397-420.
    17. Thomas Baudin, 2012. "More on Religion and Fertility: The French Connection," Working Papers hal-00993310, HAL.
    18. Suzanne Noordhuizen & Paul Graaf & Inge Sieben, 2010. "The Public Acceptance of Voluntary Childlessness in the Netherlands: from 20 to 90 per cent in 30 years," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 99(1), pages 163-181, October.
    19. Jona Schellekens & A’as Atrash, 2018. "Religiosity and marital fertility among Muslims in Israel," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(34), pages 911-926.
    20. Victor Agadjanian & Scott Yabiku, 2014. "Religious Affiliation and Fertility in a Sub-Saharan Context: Dynamic and Lifetime Perspectives," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 33(5), pages 673-691, October.
    21. Barbara S. Okun, 2017. "Religiosity and Fertility: Jews in Israel," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(4), pages 475-507, October.
    22. Kumo, Kazuhiro & Perugini, Cristiano, 2023. "Religion, Ideology and Fertility," IZA Discussion Papers 16159, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fertility; religion; interaction effect; male fertility; religious affiliation; religiosity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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