Teen Religiosity and Fertility in Adulthood in a Canadian Prairie Province

Abstract

This study examines the association of self-reported religiosity during one's teens with cumulative fertility in adulthood based on a representative sample of women in Alberta, a province in the prairie region of Canada. A significant association is found between these two variables. The association persists even after relevant controls have been taken into account in Poisson regression analysis. Women reporting a high degree of religiosity during their teen years achieve a larger family size than women who stated they were nonreligious or had a low level of religious engagement in their teens. The findings of this study are consistent with the proposition that early life experiences can have long term effects into adulthood, including in this case, cumulative fertility. Religiosity remains an important factor in the explanation of fertility differentials.