Sandra Hubert: The Impact of Religiosity on Fertility. A Comparative Analysis of France, Hungary, Norway, and Germany

Abstract

The relationship between religiosity and fertility has attracted considerable attention in demographic and sociological research over the last decades. Various dimensions of religiosity, including attendance, commitment, and the centrality of religion in people’s lives, have been shown to be associated with multiple dimensions of family life such as marriage, divorce, and family size. The book comprises an important contribution to this field, presenting a multidimensional analysis on the role of religion and religiosity in shaping fertility patterns. It adopts a comparative approach between gender, generations, and countries (i.e., France, Hungary, Norway, and Germany) and combines macro and micro perspectives. The volume is based on Sandra Hubert’s dissertation defended at Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany, in 2014. The book is structured into seven chapters. After a first, introductory chapter, the second one outlines and compares family-related trends in France, Hungary, Norway, and (West and East) Germany. Then, chapter 3 defines religion and religiosity and introduces the multifaceted concept of religiosity. It also critically reviews previous evidence on the religiosity/fertility nexus. Chapter 4 theorizes the impact of religious affiliation and religiosity on fertility. Chapter 5 deviates from the general line of the book talking about micro and macro factors affecting fertility behaviors across space and time. Chapter 6 presents an empirical analysis on the link between religiosity and completed fertility in the selected countries based on the first waves of the Generations and Gender Surveys (GGS). Chapter 7 closes the paper with a summary of main findings.