Introduction

This chapter explores the changing place of religion as a variable of interest within demographic research on fertility and family size in Australia. Fertility rates are of social, political and academic interest because of the implications for future social and economic trends. Currently each woman in Australia is having, on average, fewer than two children, and each nominal couple is not replacing itself. At this rate, and without considerably higher immigration, the Australian population is likely to decrease in size over the next 50 years, leading to an undesirably high ratio of non-working to working population (McDonald and Kippen, 1999; UN Secretariat, 2000). Since about 2000, researchers and politicians have therefore increased their interest in better understanding influences on fertility behaviour, in particular to avoid ‘fertility gaps’ where people would have additional children under different circumstances. A particular focus has been on economic and work-based constraints, perhaps as these are deemed most amenable to government policy. Less attention has been paid to social factors, including those that could be influenced through religious affiliation or contact with faith communities, such as attitudes towards different family sizes or social support for parenting.

Religion in demography

In investigating factors associated with population-level fertility change, and differences among areas and groups, religion was once ‘at the forefront’ of demographic research (McQuillan, 2004, p 25). Denomination is the variable traditionally included on demographic surveys, although religiosity may also be measured (as frequency of attendance at services or activities). Average family size has fluctuated over time in Australia, but a general decline commenced around the 1870s, mirroring trends in Northern and Western Europe (Day, 1965). There have also been obvious denominational differences, with Australian Census data from 1911 and 1921 suggesting that the first to begin limiting family size were women born in England and Wales, who were mostly of the Church of England, Methodist or Presbyterian churches (Ruzicka and Caldwell, 1982, p 214). In contrast, Roman Catholic women who had come mainly from Ireland, and Lutherans from Germany, limited their family size later (Ruzicka and Caldwell, 1982, p 214). The most rapid fertility decline in Australia, from 1911 to 1966, occurred among non-Catholics (Borrie, 1975, p 53). Historical variation in family size was long dominated by the difference between Catholics and non-Catholic Christians (Borrie, 1975).