Compared to studies of religious denomination and fertility, religiosity has received far less attention in the literature. Generally, couples with a taste for religious activity tend to have an above-average preference for children (Sander, 1992, p. 489). Most of the evidence for a positive relationship between religiosity and reproductive behavior comes from studies on Christian and Jewish populations (e.g. Adsera, 2006; Mosher & Hendershot, 1984; Neuman, 2007; Neuman & Ziderman, 1986; Sander, 1992). Whereas, a significant and positive relationship between religiosity and contraceptive behavior has been documented in several Muslim populations (Azaiza, 1997; Amin et al., 1997; Kamal et al., 1999; Maloney et al., 1981), there are very few reports of a positive relationship between religiosity and marital fertility (e.g. Eisenbach, 1978). Moreover, at least two studies report a negative correlation between religiosity and fertility (Mistry, 1999; Schellekens and Eisenbach, 2010). Using survey data we will try to show that after controlling for socio-economic characteristics religiosity has a positive effect among Israeli Muslims. Previous studies measured religiosity at the time of data collection. Any study of the effect of religiosity on reproductive behavior, however, must consider the possibility of reverse causation. Thus, it has been argued that family formation causes greater religiosity (Hout & Greeley, 1987, p. 331-32; Thornton, Axinn & Hill, 1992). Hence, we will try to show that our results remain after controlling for reverse causality. When we replace religiosity as measured at the time of the survey with a time-varying measure of religiosity, the effect of religiosity increases. 

Conference Title

paa2011.princeton.edu/abstracts/110400

Conference Country

United States of America

Conference Date

April 1, 2011 - Jan. 1, 2011

Conference Sponsor

Paa

Additional Info

Conference Website