ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the effect of Catholicism on fertility in the United States and presents several new findings. The effect of Catholicism on fertility is positive and that of Mormonism modestly positive. The rationale for estimating the relationship between attendance and fertility for non-Catholics is simply to demonstrate the select nature of “religious” households in different religions. One of the shortcomings in many studies in which religion is included as a determinant of fertility, is that current religious status is used. All the variables related to Catholicism show a highly significant positive effect on fertility for wives born before 1920. None of the variables related to Catholicism is significant in the cohort born during the 1920s. The effect of Catholicism is more substantial when husband’s religion is used. The chapter shows that the results are affected by whether the husband’s or the wife’s religion is used in the estimate.
