Is There Evidence of Fertility Convergence among Religious Groups in Western Europe?

Nitzan Peri-Rotem, University of Oxford

The role of religion in explaining fertility differences is often overlooked in demographic studies of Western European countries, where there has been a substantial decline in institutional forms of religion. This study examines the changing effect of religion and religiosity on the transition to motherhood and completed fertility across birth cohorts of women in Britain, France and the Netherlands, using data from the Generations and Gender surveys and the last wave of the British Household Panel Survey. The preliminary results indicate that level of religiosity has become a more important determinant of fertility differences among younger cohorts, while the fertility difference between religious denominations has decreased as well as the gap between those affiliated with a particular religion and the unaffiliated individuals.