On a mission to find out whether or not a higher % of Catholics living in a country actually affects birth rates because of the Papal Encyclical. If it does, prove it, if not then what does have a correlation to birth rates?
6 Nations with Catholic Percentages higher than 85%
Mexico
% of Catholics- 82.7%
Birth Rate- 18.61 births/1,000 population
Death Rate- 4.94 deaths/1,000 population
Infant Mortality Rate- 16.26 deaths/1,000 live births
Average Lifespan- 76.96 years
Average Income- $12,732
Average Educational Level- 14 years
Unemployment- 9.8%
Does Catholic correlation exist at all- There is a high number of Catholics and a about average number of births per year. The birth rate can also be due to low average income and high infant mortality rate. The higher Catholic percentage did not lead to a high birth rate.
Spain
% of Catholics- 94%
Birth Rate- 10.14 births/1,000 population
Death Rate- 8.94 deaths/1,000 population
Infant Mortality Rate- 3.35 deaths/1,000 live births
Average Lifespan- 81.37 years
Average Income- $22,847
Average Educational Level- 17 years
Unemployment- 25.1%
Does Catholic correlation exist at all- Comparing this one to Mexico, the % Catholics is higher but the birth rate is lower, which does not mean the correlation is necessarily true.
Italy
% of Catholics- 80%
Birth Rate- 8.94 births/1,000 population
Death Rate- 10.01 deaths.1,000 population
Infant Mortality Rate- 3.33 deaths/1,000 population
Average Lifespan- 81.95 years
Average Income- $24,216
Average Educational Level- 16 years
Unemployment- 10.6%
Does Catholic correlation exist at all- Compared to Mexico, Italy only has about 3% less of a Catholic population, yet the birth rate is almost half as much. So there isn't a correlation in my opinion.
% of Catholics- 87.4%
Birth Rate- 15.5 births/1,000 population
Death Rate- 6.41 deaths/1,000 population
Infant Mortality Rate- 3.78 deaths/1,000 live births
Average Lifespan- 80.44 years
Average Income- $24,104
Average Educational Level- 19 years
Unemployment- 14.7%
Does Catholic correlation exist at all- There is a high number of Catholics and a slightly below average birth rate. This suggests that there is no Catholic correlation.
% of Catholics- 82.9%
Birth Rate- 24.62 births/1,000 population
Death Rate- 4.95 deaths/1,000 population
Infant Mortality Rate- 18.19 deaths/1,000 live births
Average Lifespan-72.21 years
Average Income- $4,000
Average Educational Level- 11 years
Unemployment- 7%
Does Catholic correlation exist at all- There is a slight correlation because the Catholic population is so high and the birth rate here is also really high.
% of Catholics- 81.3%
Birth Rate- 18.85 births/1,000 population
Death Rate- 5.97 deaths/1,000 population
Infant Mortality Rate- 20.85 deaths/1,000 live births
Average Lifespan- 72.98 years
Average Income- $10,350
Average Educational Level- 13 years
Unemployment- 6.8%
Does Catholic correlation exist at all- It has a high % of Catholics but an average birth rate, so there is not a correlation.
Pakistan
% of Catholics- 0.72%
Birth Rate- 23.76 births/1,000 population
Death Rate- 6.69 deaths/1,000 population
Infant Mortality Rate- 59.35 deaths/1,00 live births
Average Lifespan- 66.71 years
Average Income- $1,500
Average Educational Level- 8 years
Unemployment- 6.2%
Does Catholic correlation exist at all- No, there are almost no Catholics in Pakistan, yet the birth rate is higher than average.
% of Catholics- 0.13%
Birth Rate- 46.84 births/1,000 population
Death Rate- 13.07 deaths/1,000 population
Infant Mortality Rate- 87.98 deaths/1,000 live births
Average Lifespan- 54.34
Average Income- $300
Average Educational Level- 5 years
Unemployment- N/A
Does Catholic correlation exist at all- No, there are virtually no Catholics in Niger, yet the birth rate is extremely high.
% of Catholics- 0.07%
Birth Rate- 18.73 births/1,000 population
Death Rate- 4.78 deaths/1,000 population
Infant Mortality Rate- 25.48 deaths/1,000 live births
Average Lifespan- 76.31 years
Average Income- $6,000
Average Educational Level- 11 years
Unemployment- 9%
Does Catholic correlation exist at all- No, there are no Catholics at all and the birth rate is average.
Conclusion
Because of the Papal Encyclical called the Casti Connubii, we were asked to figure out if a higher birth rate was linked to a higher population of Catholics because at that time Catholicism prohibited birth control. My conclusion after examining data from 9 different countries (6 of which were heavily Catholic and 3 of which were almost void of Catholics) is that Catholicism (or whether or not birth control was prohibited) does not have a correlation with birth rates. The 6 countries I examined that had an extremely high population of Catholics all had about average or even lower than average birth rates, which goes against the initial assumption. This leads me to conclude that the prohibition in using birth control in Catholic culture does not really exist in their behaviors. Furthermore, I believe that birth rates have more to do with income, infant mortality, education, and average lifespan than they have to do with whether or not a society bans birth control. The lower income, average lifespan, or education would result in a higher birth rate. The higher infant mortality rate would also result in a higher birth rate. For both cases, the opposites would also be true, and this is proven through the data above on all the countries that I examined. The only country that was heavily Catholic that had a higher than normal birth rate that I analyzed was the Philippines, and I think that the birth rate there was so high because of a higher than normal infant mortality rate and lower than average income/lifespan. When analyzing the 3 outgroup countries, it is clear that these three factors play a huge role. Take Niger for example. The birth rate there is ridiculously high at 46.84 births, and this can be largely attributed to the extremely high infant mortality rate at 87.98, the low average lifespan at 54.34, and the low average income at $300. Further, the amount of Catholics in my 3 outgroup countries is virtually 0% and their birth rates remain about average besides for Niger. There must be other factors to think about rather than just if a religion bans birth control. All of these facts led me to my conclusion that there are factors that have greater roles in birth rate (like income, infant mortality, average lifespan, education, urbanization, etc.) than just whether or not a culture bans birth control. But, one thing to remember is that we only analyzed Catholics banning birth control. I believe there are other cultures that are much more strict about birth control or having large families that can affect birth rates. Some cultures may strongly be against abortion or birth control and this would play a huge role on the birth rates in these areas. In the Catholic heavy countries I analyzed, I do not believe that the prohibition on birth control was extremely serious and had to be followed to the letter.
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