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Religiosity, Secularity and Fertility in Canada

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  • Maryam Dilmaghani

    (Saint Mary’s University)

Abstract

Using several cycles of the Canadian General Social Survey covering cohorts born from the early 1900s onwards, this paper examines how religiosity and secularity associate with fertility in Canada. The analysis shows that among multiple dimensions of religiosity, religious attendance is the strongest predictor of higher fertility in the country. For the latest cycle conducted in 2011, three mutually exclusive groups of secularized women are compared with the actively religious in their fertility behaviour and intentions. All these secularized women are found to have lower fertility rates compared with the actively religious. Among them, the strictly seculars, a proxy identifier for the atheists, have the lowest fertility and the highest likelihood of remaining childless. Various implications are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Maryam Dilmaghani, 2019. "Religiosity, Secularity and Fertility in Canada," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(2), pages 403-428, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:35:y:2019:i:2:d:10.1007_s10680-018-9487-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10680-018-9487-z
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    3. 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.
    4. Charalampos Dantis & Ester Lucia Rizzi & Thomas Baudin, 2023. "The Association between Religiosity and Fertility Intentions Via Grandparenting: Evidence from GGS Data," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-24, December.
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    6. Ryohei Mogi & Albert Esteve & Vegard F. Skirbekk, 2022. "The Decline of Spanish Fertility: The Role of Religion," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(5), pages 1333-1346, December.

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