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

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, wit...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religions
Authors: Borch, Casey (Author) ; Gauchat, Gordon (Author) ; West, Matthew (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: MDPI [2011]
In: Religions
Further subjects:B trend analyses
B Catholic
B Fertility
B conservative Protestant
B Religion
B Protestant
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary: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.
ISSN:2077-1444
Contains:Enthalten in: Religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.3390/rel2040469