Go Forth and Multiply: Revisiting Religion and Fertility in the United States, 1984-2008

Abstract

Many studies on the fertility differential by religion have considered both Catholics and Protestants to be equally homogenous groups. Contrary to these studies, we contend that Protestant fertility must be studied in the context of heterogeneous groups. Specifically, conservative Protestantism, with its beliefs about artificial birth control mirroring Catholic teaching, should be examined separately from other Protestant traditions. Using data from the General Social Survey we find that conservative Protestants and Catholics had about the same level of fertility, while mainline Protestants have a fertility rate that is significantly lower than that of Catholics. We also examine the changes in these differences over time.

How Religion, Social Class, and Race Intersect in the Shaping of Young Women’s Understandings of Sex, Reproduction, and Contraception

“…However, there appears to be very little direct effect on other behaviors relative to sexual activity, such as contraceptive use or number of partners (Jones et al 2005;Kramer et al 2007). Frequently attending religious services-particularly ones that talk about marriage, abstinence, or conservative sexual attitudes in general-may indirectly negatively impact contraceptive and reproductive health knowledge, given that adolescents may be implicitly encouraged to associate sexual activity with procreation and discouraged from learning more about regulating fertility (Borch et al 2011;Gonsoulin 2010;Yancey and Emerson 2018).…”

Beyond Belief: How Membership in Congregations Affects the Fertility of U.S. Mormons and Jews

“…There is substantial evidence that congregational participation is positively associated with fertility in the United States. Much of the scholarship investigating the relationship between religion and fertility has focused on the role of the congregation, documenting a positive, independent relationship between religious service attendance and fertility (Abma and Martinez 2006; Borch et al 2011; Hackett 2008; Heaton et al 1992; Jacobson and Heaton 1991; Lehrer 1996; Mosher et al 1992). Religious service attendance also has a positive relationship to the desire for a baby among childless women (Craig et al 2014).…”

“…Second, Mormons and Jews have similar racial and social class profiles, thus minimizing the confounding potential of race and social class differences between groups. Third, much of the general research on the relationship between religion and fertility focuses on larger religious groups such as Catholics, Mainline Protestants and Evangelical Protestants (e.g., Borch et al 2011; Hout et al 2001; Westoff and Marshall 2010), and the potentially different dynamics among religious minority groups need also be considered. The next section describes existing research into the fertility of U.S. Mormons and Jews.…”

Psychological, Social, and Spiritual Effects of Contraceptive Steroid Hormones

“…The data do not discriminate about participants' religious practice. Because Catholics were slower to accept contraceptives than their Protestant neighbors, their fertility was higher prior to the advent of non-coital methods, but with acceptance of current contraceptives the differences have disappeared (Borch, West, and Gauchat 2011), except for the Hispanic population whose fertility has remained higher than the non-Hispanics' for mainly religious reasons which tend to disappear with changes in income and education (Westhoff and Marshall 2010). Similar conclusions about contraceptive use among college-educated, MexicanAmerican women were reached by Alvarado and Nehring (2012).…”