Religion and fertility in Finland - evidence from longitudinal register data

Martin Kolk , Stockholm University
Jan M. Saarela, Abo Academy University

In our study we use longitudinal data on fertility and religious affiliation in Finland to examine average number of children and parity using detailed information from Finnish register data on religious denominations. We show higher fertility among members of the Finnish state church and other protestant churches and lower fertility among individuals with no religious affiliation. Most other religious groups (Orthodox Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Eastern religions) mostly have intermediate levels of fertility. We also examine religion for those who change religion over time, and find that converts typically show a similar pattern as co-religious (non-converts) of the groups that they convert to, though with even more distinct deviations from average patterns. Women have larger differences by religious affiliation than men. We find that fertility differences by religion are particularly pronounced for childlessness. Our results are to our knowledge the first examination of religion and fertility using national-level and longitudinal data.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session P1. Postercafe