Teran Faust

Teran Faust

Assignment #3

Birthrate Correlates

Catholic Countries:

Argentina:
Population: 42,192,494
Catholics: 92%
Birth rate: 17.34 births/1,000
Infant mortality rate: 10.52 deaths/1,000
Education: 4.9% of GDP
Population below poverty line: 30%

Spain:
Population: 47,042,984
Catholics: 94%
Birth rate: 10.4 births/1,000
Infant mortality rate: 3.37 deaths/1,000
Education: 4.3% of GDP
Population below poverty line: 19.8%

Poland:
Population: 38,415,284
Catholics: 89.8%
Birthrate: 9.96 births/1,000
Infant mortality rate: 6.42 deaths/1,000
Education: 4.9% of GDP
Population below poverty line: 17%

France:

      Population: 65,630,692

      Catholics: 83-88%

      Birth rate: 12.72 births/1000

      Infant mortality rate: 3.37 deaths/1,000

      Education:  5.6% of GDP

Population below poverty line: 6.2%

Mexico:
Population: 114,975,406
Catholics: 76.5%
Birth rate: 18.87 births/1,000
Infant mortality rate: 16.77 deaths/1,000
Education: 4.8% of GDP
Population below poverty line: 51.3%

Ireland:

      Population: 4,722,028

      Catholics: 87.4%

      Birth rate: 15.81 births/1000 Population

      Infant mortality rate:  3.81 deaths/1000

      Education: 4.9% of GDP

      Population below poverty line: 5.5%

Non-Catholic Countries:

      Estonia:
Population: 1,274,709
Many Religions, < 5% Catholics
Birth rate: 10.43 births/1,000
Infant mortality rate: 6.94 deaths/1,000
Education: 4.9% of GDP
Population below poverty line: 17.5%

Jamaica:

      Population: 2,889,187

      Catholics: 2.6%

      Birth rate: 18.89 births/1000

      Infant Mortality Rate: 14.3 deaths/1000

      Education: 5.8% of GDP

      Population below poverty line: 16.5%

     

      Bangladesh:
Population: 161,083,804
Muslim: 89.5%, < 5% Catholics
Birthrate: 22.53 births/1,000
Infant mortality rate: 48.99 deaths/1,000
Education: 2.4% of GDP
Population below poverty line: 31,51%

Conclusion:

           After analyzing religion in correlation with birth rates in these nine countries, I have found no evidence of higher birth rates in Catholic countries.  When looking at the data, one can see that the non-Catholic countries I chose have about the same if not higher birth rates than most of the Catholic countries.  Therefore, the thesis that religion correlates with birth rate appears to be false.

           What I found to be more influential on birth rate is the amount of population below the poverty line.  Countries with higher percentages of poverty seem to have higher birth rates.  This makes sense because birth control methods and developments cost money, and are therefore less available to people in poverty.  I also found it interesting that Bangladesh spent the least on education and has the highest birth rate, while the other countries, which spend more on education, seem to have a more moderate birth rate.  This could be because more people are educated about the risks involved in sex and birth control, while Bangladesh doesn’t seem to think as much about restricting childbirth.

           Overall, religion had probably the least to do with birth rate modulation, making me think that religions that are against birth control contraceptives might use their beliefs as more of a natural birth control.  This would constrict the birth rate in a way that makes it balance out with religions that aren’t against birth control, making religion more or less irrelevant in correlation with birthrates.