IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eurpop/v38y2022i5d10.1007_s10680-022-09644-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Decline of Spanish Fertility: The Role of Religion

Author

Listed:
  • Ryohei Mogi

    (University of Southern Denmark)

  • Albert Esteve

    (CERCA
    Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

  • Vegard F. Skirbekk

    (Columbia University and Oslo University)

Abstract

The Spanish total fertility rate declined from 2.8 to below 1.4 children per woman from 1975 to 2020. Spain is categorized as a “lowest-low fertility” country. Although there have been many attempts to explain the Spanish fertility decline, there has been an insufficient focus been given to religion. This brief report aims to analyse how religious affiliation, particularly being Catholics, associates with fertility behaviours—entering parenthood and the total number of children. Using three nationally representative surveys, we show that, compared with the religiously non-affiliated, Catholic women have a higher likelihood of entering parenthood after controlling for demographic, union status and educational characteristics. After controlling for changes in education and union formation, changes in religious affiliation account for approximately 4% of the cohort variation in the age at first birth, but there is no significant contribution for men nor to the total number of children for both sexes

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:38:y:2022:i:5:d:10.1007_s10680-022-09644-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10680-022-09644-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10680-022-09644-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10680-022-09644-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Emilia Bono & Andrea Weber & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2015. "Fertility and economic instability: the role of unemployment and job displacement," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(2), pages 463-478, April.
    2. Nitzan Peri-Rotem, 2016. "Religion and Fertility in Western Europe: Trends Across Cohorts in Britain, France and the Netherlands," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(2), pages 231-265, May.
    3. Guadalupe Aguilera & Kim Korinek, 2020. "Immigrant Fertility in Comparative Perspective: South Africa and the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(1), pages 297-322, February.
    4. Susanne Schmid & Martin Kohls, 2009. "Reproductive behaviour of migrant women in Germany: Data, patterns and determinants," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 7(1), pages 39-61.
    5. David F. Mullins, 2016. "The Effects of Religion on Enduring Marriages," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-14, May.
    6. 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.
    7. Caroline Berghammer, 2012. "Church attendance and childbearing: Evidence from a Dutch panel study, 1987-2005," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 66(2), pages 197-212, July.
    8. Tomáš Sobotka, 2008. "Overview Chapter 7: The rising importance of migrants for childbearing in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(9), pages 225-248.
    9. Héctor Bellido & Miriam Marcén, 2019. "Fertility and the business cycle: the European case," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1289-1319, December.
    10. Kryštof Zeman & Eva Beaujouan & Zuzanna Brzozowska & Tomáš Sobotka, 2018. "Cohort fertility decline in low fertility countries: Decomposition using parity progression ratios," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(25), pages 651-690.
    11. Brienna Perelli-Harris & Michaela Kreyenfeld & Wendy Sigle-Rushton & Renske Keizer & Trude Lappegård & Aiva Jasilioniene & Caroline Berghammer & Paola Di Giulio, 2012. "Changes in union status during the transition to parenthood in eleven European countries, 1970s to early 2000s," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 66(2), pages 167-182, July.
    12. Berman, Eli & Iannaccone, Laurence R. & Ragusa, Giuseppe, 2018. "From Empty Pews To Empty Cradles: Fertility Decline Among European Catholics," Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 84(2), pages 149-187, June.
    13. Shanshan Li & Laura D Kubzansky & Tyler J VanderWeele, 2018. "Religious service attendance, divorce, and remarriage among U.S. nurses in mid and late life," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-17, December.
    14. Dmitry Tumin, 2018. "Does Marriage Protect Health? A Birth Cohort Comparison," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 99(2), pages 626-643, June.
    15. 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.
    16. Vegard Skirbekk & Marcin Jan Stonawski & Setsuya Fukuda & Thomas Spoorenberg & Conrad Hackett & Raya Muttarak, 2015. "Is Buddhism the low fertility religion of Asia?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(1), pages 1-28.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. 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.
    2. Dayuan Xie & Yonghong Zhou, 2022. "Religion effects on fertility preference: evidence from China," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 341-371, September.
    3. 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.
    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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Kumo, Kazuhiro & Perugini, Cristiano, 2023. "Religion, Ideology and Fertility," IZA Discussion Papers 16159, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. 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.
    10. Kenneth Aarskaug Wiik, 2019. "First union formation among the children of immigrants in Norway. Timing and choice of union type," Discussion Papers 917, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    11. Anja Vatterrott, 2011. "The fertility behaviour of East to West German migrants," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2011-013, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    12. Anja Vatterrott, 2015. "Socialisation or Institutional Context: What Determines the First and Second Birth Behaviour of East–West German Migrants?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 31(4), pages 383-415, October.
    13. Kazenin, Konstantin (Казенин, Константин), 2018. "The Impact of Migration on Fertility: An Overview of Foreign Research [Влияние Миграции На Рождаемость: Обзор Зарубежных Исследований]," Working Papers 041804, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
    14. Maria Winkler-Dworak & Eva Beaujouan & Paola Di Giulio & Martin Spielauer, 2021. "Simulating family life courses: An application for Italy, Great Britain, Norway, and Sweden," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(1), pages 1-48.
    15. Hampshire, Katherine R. & Blell, Mwenza T. & Simpson, Bob, 2012. "‘Everybody is moving on’: Infertility, relationality and the aesthetics of family among British-Pakistani Muslims," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(7), pages 1045-1052.
    16. Lozano, Fernando A., 2012. "What Happened to God's Time? The Evolution of Secularism and Hours of Work in America, Evidence from Religious Holidays," IZA Discussion Papers 6552, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Lisa Van Landschoot & Helga de Valk & Jan Van Bavel, 2017. "Fertility among descendants of immigrants in Belgium: The role of the partner," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(60), pages 1827-1858.
    18. Del Boca, Daniela & Locatelli, Marilena, 2006. "The Determinants of Motherhood and Work Status: A Survey," IZA Discussion Papers 2414, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Júlia Mikolai & Ann Berrington & Brienna Perelli-Harris, 2018. "The role of education in the intersection of partnership transitions and motherhood in Europe and the United States," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(27), pages 753-794.
    20. Federico Barbiellini Amidei & Matteo Gomellini & Paolo Piselli, 2018. "The contribution of demography to Italy's economic growth: a two-hundred-year-long story," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 431, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:38:y:2022:i:5:d:10.1007_s10680-022-09644-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.