1. Christina Vasiliou
Predominantly
Catholic Countries
Ireland
·
87.4% Roman Catholic
·
Birth Rate: 15.5 births/1,000 population
·
Total Fertility Rate: 2.01 children/woman
·
Infant Mortality Rate: 3.78 deaths/1,000 live
births
·
Life Expectancy: 80.44 years
·
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate: 64.8% (as of
2004/2005)
·
School Life expectancy: 19 years
·
GDP per capita: $42,600
Panama
·
85% Roman Catholic
·
Birth Rate: 18.91 births/1,000 population
·
Total Fertility Rate: 2.4 children/woman
·
Infant Mortality Rate: 11.01 deaths/1,000 live
births
·
Life Expectancy: 78.13 years
·
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate: 52.2% (as of
2009)
·
School Life expectancy: 13 years
·
GDP per capita: $15,900
France
·
83-88% Roman Catholic
·
Birth Rate: 12.6 births/1,000 population
·
Total Fertility Rate: 2.08 children/woman
·
Infant Mortality Rate: 3.34 deaths/1,000 live
births
·
Life Expectancy: 81.56 years
·
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate: 76.4% (as of
2008)
·
School Life expectancy: 16 years
·
GDP per capita: $36,100
Haiti
·
80% Roman Catholic
·
Birth Rate: 23.35 births/1,000 population
·
Total Fertility Rate: 2.88 children/woman
·
Infant Mortality Rate: 50.92 deaths/1,000 live
births
·
Life Expectancy: 62.85 years
·
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate: 34.5%
·
School Life expectancy: not available
·
Literacy: 48.5% (age 15+)
·
GDP per capita: $1,300
Colombia
·
90% Roman Catholic
·
Birth Rate: 16.98 births/1,000 population
·
Total Fertility Rate: 2.1 children/woman
·
Infant Mortality Rate: 15.46 deaths/1,000 live
births
·
Life Expectancy: 75.02 years
·
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate: 79.1%
·
School Life Expectancy: 14 years
·
GDP per capita: $11,000
Bolivia
·
95% Roman Catholic
·
Birth Rate: 23.77 births/1,000 population
·
Total Fertility Rate: 2.87 children/woman
·
Infant Mortality Rate: 39.76 deaths/1,000 live
births
·
Life Expectancy: 68.22 years
·
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate: 60.5% (as of
2008)
·
School Life Expectancy: 14 years
·
GDP per capita: $5,200
Outgroup
Japan
·
2% Christianity
·
Birth Rate: 8.23 births/1,000 population
·
Total Fertility Rate: 1.39 children/woman
·
Infant Mortality Rate: 2.17 deaths/1,000 live
births
·
Life Expectancy: 84.19 years
·
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate: 54.3% (as of
2005)
·
School Life Expectancy: 15 years
·
GDP per capita: $36,900
Mongolia
·
Less than 5% Roman Catholic
·
Birth Rate: 20.34 births/1,000 population
·
Total Fertility Rate: 2.18 children born/woman
·
Infant Mortality Rate: 34.78 deaths/1,000 live
births
·
Life Expectancy: 68.95 years
·
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate: 55%
·
School Life Expectancy: 14 years
·
GDP per capita: $5,500
Ethiopia
·
.7% Catholic
·
Birth Rate: 38.07 births/1,000 population
·
Total Fertility Rate: 5.31 children born/woman
·
Infant Mortality Rate: 58.28 deaths/1,000 live
births
·
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate: 28.6% (as of
2010/2011)
·
School Life Expectancy: 9 years
·
GDP per capita: $1,200
Many conclusions can be made from
examining this data collected about predominantly Catholic countries and
comparing it to countries that are not predominantly Catholic. All of the predominantly Catholic countries have
Catholic populations ranging from 80% (Haiti) to 95% (Bolivia); however, the
birth rates and total fertility rates have a much wider range. This immediately shows that even within
heavily Catholic populated countries some have much higher birth rates than
others, so Catholicism does not inherently lead to high birth rates. It would be expected that contraceptive use
would be low in all predominantly Catholic countries because birth control is
prohibited in Catholicism. The reality
is though, that contraceptive use varies between these countries as well, with
France having a rate of 76.4% using birth control during childbearing
ages. This is a surprisingly high
percentage for a population that is 83-88% Catholic. Additionally, Columbia has a contraceptive
prevalence rate of 79.1% and a Catholic population of 90%. Haiti has the lowest contraceptive rate (of
the countries evaluated) at 34.5% and has the lowest Catholic population (of
the countries evaluated) at 80%.
Clearly, acceptance of Catholicism does not immediately lead to high
birth rates due to refusal to use contraception.
Other more relevant evidence of
why birth rates are increased in some Catholic countries over others is
probably the infant mortality rate. If
the infant mortality rate is very high, the birth rate must be higher in order
to “absorb” the high mortality rate and sustain a population. High infant mortality rates are typically
seen in the less developed countries (in my evidence, Haiti and Bolivia have
very high rates, 50.92 deaths/1,000 live births and 39.76 deaths/1,000 live
births, respectively). Less developed
countries have less resources and a lower standard of living that is not
conducive to caring for infants.
Additionally, without technology such as vaccines that are much more
readily available in developed countries, infant mortality rates increase.
This supports the conclusion that
one of the most telltale signs of whether there will be a high birth rate, high
infant mortality rate, and high total fertility rate is not the predominance of
Catholicism but the GDP of the country.
The GDP is a sign of the development of the country, which is also
telling of the standard of living, availability of resources, education levels,
and the average life span of individuals.
Less developed countries lacks the developed technology that developed
countries have that allow humans to live longer and live in better
conditions. Haiti is an example of a
country that has a GDP per capita of $1,300, which is very low and labels Haiti
an underdeveloped country. The infant
mortality rate is thus very high and the average life span is relatively
low. This equates to having a higher
birth rate to try to “absorb” these losses and sustain a population. It is fair to conclude that these high birth
rates and lack of contraceptive use are not a reflection of the predominance of
Catholicism in the country but instead a reflection of the lack of development
and technology in the country.
Additionally, some of the non-predominantly Catholic data can be used to
support this. Ethiopia has (somewhat)
comparable numbers to Haiti (in birth rate, average life span, infant mortality
rate, contraceptive use, and GDP) but has a .7% Catholic population (their only
main difference). This supports the conclusion
of undeveloped countries having higher birth rates and more developed countries
having lower birth rates regardless of the predominance of Catholicism.
2. Lyndsay Aronson (admin)
To examine whether or not Catholic prohibition of
contraceptives really influence birth rate, I examined 9 countries total, 6
with a Catholic majority and 9 with a Catholic minority (under 5% guideline,
however these countries have less than 1% of Catholics). Just immediately
looking at the contraceptive prevalence rate in the predominantly catholic
countries, it is clear that even though their religion may mandate the
abstinence from contraceptives, most do not practice what the church preaches.
It is clear that higher birth rates are more prevalent in countries with a low
GDP per capita (and a higher poverty percentage) and a high infant mortality rate, keeping in line with the R/K
selection theory. In countries like these, people are more likely to have more offspring because they have
(relatively) shorter lifespans and therefore less time to reproduce; they have
less stable resources to care for their children in an unstable environment
which translates into less certainty that offspring will survive – so it makes
more sense from an evolutionary perspective to bear more children. In countries
with a higher GDP per capita (i.e. wealthier nations), the education level is
generally higher as well and the infant mortality rate is lower, meaning that
its citizens take longer to reproduce (usually focusing on careers, schooling,
or other tasks that take priority over settling down) and have fewer children,
choosing to invest more of their
limited, yet stable, resources into their offspring – and the chances that
their children will survive is much higher.
3. IYAH TURMINI
DATA:
Nations with High Percentage of Roman Catholicism (65% or higher):
1. Italy: → DEVELOPED
90% Roman Catholic
9.18 births/1000
Life expectancy: 81.7 years
Infant mortality: 3.38 deaths/1000
Population under poverty line: 19.6%
2. Spain: → DEVELOPED
96% Roman Catholic
10.66 births/1000
Life expectancy: 81.2 years
Infant mortality: 3.39 deaths/1000
Population under poverty line: 21.1%
3. Mexico: → UNDERDEVELOPED
76.5% Roman Catholic
19.13 births/1000
Life expectancy: 76.5 years
Infant mortality: 17.29 deaths /1000
Population under poverty line: 51.3%
4. Poland → DEVELOPED
89.8% Roman Catholic
9.88 births/1000
Life expectancy: 76.45 years
Infant mortality: 6.3 deaths/1000
Population under poverty line: 10.6%
5. Philippines → UNDERDEVELOPED
80.9% Roman Catholic
24.62 births/1,000
Life expectancy: 72.21 years
Infant mortality: 18.19 deaths/1,000 live births
Population under poverty line: 26.5%
6. Ireland → DEVELOPED
87.4% Roman Catholic
15.5 births/1000
Life expectancy: 80.44 years
Infant mortality: 3.78 deaths/1000
Population under poverty line: 5.5%
Non-Catholic (less than 5%) countries without a major religion prohibiting/
encouraging birth control:
7. Israel → DEVELOPED
1.5% Roman Catholics
18.71 births/1,000 population
Life expectancy: 81.17 years
Infant mortality: 4.03 deaths/1,000
Population under poverty line: 23.6%
8. India → UNDERDEVELOPED
1.58% Roman Catholic
20.24 births/1000
Life expectancy: 74.99 years
Infant mortality: 15.2 /1000
Population under poverty line: 29.8%
9. Japan → DEVELOPED
0.4% Roman Catholic
8.23 births/1,000
Life expectancy: 84.19 years
Infant mortality: 2.17 deaths/1,000
Population under poverty line: 16%
ANALYSIS:
For the high percentage Roman Catholic grouping of countries, I examined Mexico,
Italy, Poland, Ireland, the Philippines, and Spain. For the low percentage (less than 5%) Roman
Catholic grouping of countries, which featured no religion/governmental policy strongly
promoting or prohibiting the use of birth control, I chose to look at Israel, India, and Japan. The
statistical variables that I used, courtesy of the CIA World Factbook, were life expectancy, infant
mortality, and poverty.
From an examination of the first six countries, all of which have a relatively high
percentage of the population (over 65%) identifying as Roman Catholic, it would seem that
Catholicism on its own doesn’t seem to have a strong correlation with higher birth rates.
Variables of higher infant mortality, higher poverty levels, and relatively lower life expectancy
rates appear to correlate much more closely with the incidence of higher birth rates than
religious belief. These variables are all correlated with underdevelopment in a country, and
indeed, the two high percentage Roman Catholic countries which demonstrated these statistical
variables, the Philippines and Mexico, were the only two categorized as underdeveloped. In
Poland, Ireland, Spain and Italy, birth rates were significantly lower than in Mexico and the
Philippines. These countries also feature lower infant mortality rates, lower poverty rates, and
longer life expectancies. Not coincidentally, these are all countries that fallen into the category of
being developed. These trends held when I compared the same statistical variable in the
contexts of Israel, India, and Japan. In the developed countries, Israel and Japan, the birth rate
was significantly lower than in India, which is considered underdeveloped. None of these
countries have a large percentage of the population practicing Roman Catholicism, or any other
religion/governmental initiative which strongly promoted or prohibited the use of birth control.
I would conclude that high percentages of Catholicism, while not insignificant in their
correlation to the birth rates of their respective countries, do not correlate as strongly with
higher birth rates as the statistical variables indicative of underdevelopment like higher poverty,
higher infant mortality, and lower life expectancy. So, although there are technologically
conservative prohibitions within Catholic populations, these don’t seem to be reflected in
behavior. As discussed in class, underdeveloped countries feature higher birth rates because the
population is attempting to compensate for the high rates of infant mortality, increasing the
chances of survival for some of the above average (when compared to developed countries)
numbers of children born. In developed countries, the infant mortality rates are significantly
lower and parents do not feel the need to have more children to compensate for those that might
not reach maturity.
A few things of note: While India’s birth rate remains remarkably high, it has, in fact,
been reduced by half in the last 40+ years. Initiatives undertaken between the 1970s and early
2000s resulted in a more than 30% increase in the use of birth control by women. Also, in Japan
the birth rate is conversely remarkably low. This has been attributed, among other things, to the
low marriage rate, later occurrence of marriage, and very low incidence of out-of-wedlock births
(around 50% lower than that of the United States and among the lowest in the entire world).
The final thing I would mention is that high percentages of those identifying as Roman Catholics
doesn’t equate to equally high percentages of those actively practicing Roman Catholicism. It
could be that those countries that feature more active practice of the religion of identification
might also be those countries that feature higher rates of birth and adherence to birth control
prohibitions. Just sayin’.
4. Lucy Ni
5. Laura O'Neill
6. Virginia Lam
7. LARA SARKISSIAN
3. IYAH TURMINI
DATA:
Nations with High Percentage of Roman Catholicism (65% or higher):
1. Italy: → DEVELOPED
90% Roman Catholic
9.18 births/1000
Life expectancy: 81.7 years
Infant mortality: 3.38 deaths/1000
Population under poverty line: 19.6%
2. Spain: → DEVELOPED
96% Roman Catholic
10.66 births/1000
Life expectancy: 81.2 years
Infant mortality: 3.39 deaths/1000
Population under poverty line: 21.1%
3. Mexico: → UNDERDEVELOPED
76.5% Roman Catholic
19.13 births/1000
Life expectancy: 76.5 years
Infant mortality: 17.29 deaths /1000
Population under poverty line: 51.3%
4. Poland → DEVELOPED
89.8% Roman Catholic
9.88 births/1000
Life expectancy: 76.45 years
Infant mortality: 6.3 deaths/1000
Population under poverty line: 10.6%
5. Philippines → UNDERDEVELOPED
80.9% Roman Catholic
24.62 births/1,000
Life expectancy: 72.21 years
Infant mortality: 18.19 deaths/1,000 live births
Population under poverty line: 26.5%
6. Ireland → DEVELOPED
87.4% Roman Catholic
15.5 births/1000
Life expectancy: 80.44 years
Infant mortality: 3.78 deaths/1000
Population under poverty line: 5.5%
Non-Catholic (less than 5%) countries without a major religion prohibiting/
encouraging birth control:
7. Israel → DEVELOPED
1.5% Roman Catholics
18.71 births/1,000 population
Life expectancy: 81.17 years
Infant mortality: 4.03 deaths/1,000
Population under poverty line: 23.6%
8. India → UNDERDEVELOPED
1.58% Roman Catholic
20.24 births/1000
Life expectancy: 74.99 years
Infant mortality: 15.2 /1000
Population under poverty line: 29.8%
9. Japan → DEVELOPED
0.4% Roman Catholic
8.23 births/1,000
Life expectancy: 84.19 years
Infant mortality: 2.17 deaths/1,000
Population under poverty line: 16%
ANALYSIS:
For the high percentage Roman Catholic grouping of countries, I examined Mexico,
Italy, Poland, Ireland, the Philippines, and Spain. For the low percentage (less than 5%) Roman
Catholic grouping of countries, which featured no religion/governmental policy strongly
promoting or prohibiting the use of birth control, I chose to look at Israel, India, and Japan. The
statistical variables that I used, courtesy of the CIA World Factbook, were life expectancy, infant
mortality, and poverty.
From an examination of the first six countries, all of which have a relatively high
percentage of the population (over 65%) identifying as Roman Catholic, it would seem that
Catholicism on its own doesn’t seem to have a strong correlation with higher birth rates.
Variables of higher infant mortality, higher poverty levels, and relatively lower life expectancy
rates appear to correlate much more closely with the incidence of higher birth rates than
religious belief. These variables are all correlated with underdevelopment in a country, and
indeed, the two high percentage Roman Catholic countries which demonstrated these statistical
variables, the Philippines and Mexico, were the only two categorized as underdeveloped. In
Poland, Ireland, Spain and Italy, birth rates were significantly lower than in Mexico and the
Philippines. These countries also feature lower infant mortality rates, lower poverty rates, and
longer life expectancies. Not coincidentally, these are all countries that fallen into the category of
being developed. These trends held when I compared the same statistical variable in the
contexts of Israel, India, and Japan. In the developed countries, Israel and Japan, the birth rate
was significantly lower than in India, which is considered underdeveloped. None of these
countries have a large percentage of the population practicing Roman Catholicism, or any other
religion/governmental initiative which strongly promoted or prohibited the use of birth control.
I would conclude that high percentages of Catholicism, while not insignificant in their
correlation to the birth rates of their respective countries, do not correlate as strongly with
higher birth rates as the statistical variables indicative of underdevelopment like higher poverty,
higher infant mortality, and lower life expectancy. So, although there are technologically
conservative prohibitions within Catholic populations, these don’t seem to be reflected in
behavior. As discussed in class, underdeveloped countries feature higher birth rates because the
population is attempting to compensate for the high rates of infant mortality, increasing the
chances of survival for some of the above average (when compared to developed countries)
numbers of children born. In developed countries, the infant mortality rates are significantly
lower and parents do not feel the need to have more children to compensate for those that might
not reach maturity.
A few things of note: While India’s birth rate remains remarkably high, it has, in fact,
been reduced by half in the last 40+ years. Initiatives undertaken between the 1970s and early
2000s resulted in a more than 30% increase in the use of birth control by women. Also, in Japan
the birth rate is conversely remarkably low. This has been attributed, among other things, to the
low marriage rate, later occurrence of marriage, and very low incidence of out-of-wedlock births
(around 50% lower than that of the United States and among the lowest in the entire world).
The final thing I would mention is that high percentages of those identifying as Roman Catholics
doesn’t equate to equally high percentages of those actively practicing Roman Catholicism. It
could be that those countries that feature more active practice of the religion of identification
might also be those countries that feature higher rates of birth and adherence to birth control
prohibitions. Just sayin’.
4. Lucy Ni
5. Laura O'Neill
6. Virginia Lam
7. LARA SARKISSIAN
