Birth Rates

Catholic nations:

-Italy is 90% Catholic and has a birth rate of 9 per thousand. The country’s infant mortality rate is 3 per thousand. 14% live below the poverty line.

-Spain is 96% Catholic with a birth rate of 11 per thousand and an infant mortality rate of 3 per thousand. 20% live below the poverty line.

-France is 83% Catholic and has a birth rate of 12 per thousand. Infant mortality rate is 3 per thousand. Only 6% live below the poverty line.

-Brazil is 74% Catholic with a birth rate of 18 per thousand. 26% live below the poverty line. Infant mortality rate is 21 per thousand.

-Argentina is 92% Catholic and has a birth rate of 18 per thousand. Infant mortality rate is 10.81 per thousand. 30% live below the poverty line.

-Mexico is 77% Catholic with a birth rate of 19 per thousand. The infant mortality rate is 17 per thousand. 18% live below the poverty line.

Outgroup:

-Afghanistan is 99% Muslim. Therefore there are extremely few Catholics. The birth rate is 38 per thousand and the infant mortality rate is 149 per thousand. 36% live below poverty.

-Israel has a Christian population of 2%. The birth rate is 19 per thousand and the infant mortality rate is 4 per thousand. 24% live below poverty.

-Iran has an “other” population of 2% made up of Jewish, Christian, and Bahai citizens. The birth rate is 19 per thousand and the infant mortality rate is 42 per thousand. 18% live below poverty.

One might assume that nations with large Catholic populations would have a higher birth rate due to absence of birth control measures. However, I listed predominantly Catholic countries in increasing order of birth rate to show that the mere presence of Catholicism does not increase birth rates. If this were the case, we would see a correlation between increasing birth rate and a higher population of Catholics. Instead, there appears to be a stronger correlation between increasing birth rate and increasing infant mortality rate and poverty rate. When there is a higher infant mortality rate, parents are more likely to have more children. There is also a correlation between poverty rate and birth rate, though it is not as strong as that of infant mortality rate. Countries like France with only 6% in poverty have the lowest birth rate of the nine countries. Conversely, Afghanistan has both the highest poverty rate and highest birth rate of the listed nations.

It should also be noted that countries like France and Argentina, despite large Catholic populations, have few who practice. However, for all nations, it appears that Catholic prohibition does not greatly influence birth control use. Instead, factors such as poverty and infant mortality rate play a much greater role.

-Laura Ruchinskas