Religiosity and Fertility in Russia and other European Countries: The Effect of Social Context
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2023.2.2359Keywords:
fertility, religiosity, religious socialization, religious social context, European Values StudyAbstract
The differences across religions and regions of Europe are growing against the background of secularization processes and the weakening connection between religiosity and fertility. This causes interest in the factors responsible for the strengthening or weakening of the connection between religiosity and fertility. Based on data from three waves of the European Values Study (1999, 2008, 2018) in 39 countries, this study analyzes the role of the social context and religious socialization in explaining the specifics of the relationship between religiosity and childbearing for Russia and other post-Soviet countries with the dominance of the Orthodox population in comparison with other regions of Europe.
The results of a multilevel regression analysis show that the level of primary religious socialization (regular attendance at religious services at the age of 12 years old) and a supportive religious context (the average level of religiosity in the country) increase the connection between individual religiosity and the number of children. This explains the weak relationship between religiosity and fertility in post-Soviet countries with the dominance of the Orthodox population. Western European countries, which today are considered the center of secularization processes, still have significant “foci” of the institutional influence of religion on fertility, associated with family and educational institutions. Eastern European and post-Soviet countries, despite the observed process of the “religious revival” in the 1990s and 2000s, did not form developed institutions of religious socialization responsible for family lifestyle. This is reflected in demographic models of connection between religiosity and fertility.
Acknowledgements. The project was supported by the Russian Science Foundation in a form of a grant (project № 18-7810089, https://rscf.ru/en/project/18-78-10089/). The grant was given to Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox University. The authors of the study are grateful to anonymous reviewers for valuable comments and advice.
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