Birth rate, Birth Control: Country Comparisons (posted by: Roxanne Cardoza)

The countries I chose, with a high percentage of Catholics are: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Mexico, Spain. The out groups being India and South Korea. The data doesn't seem to support the notion that religion, in this case, Catholicism, directly affects the birth rate of any of the selected countries. I reviewed other data, such as percentage of GDP spent on education which is more or less similar across all countries (the average % GDP spent on education is 4.42 for all countries including the out groups), and the countries' GDP per capita (Argentina: $14,700,  Brazil: $10,800, Chile $15,400, Italy: $30,500, Mexico: $13,900 and Spain: $29,400); and it appears that there is a more direct corralation between birth rates and the amount of GDP per capita, than a correlation between religion and birth rate. For instance, of the five countries selected, Spain and Italy has a higher GDP per capita than the rest of the country ($29,400 and $30,500 respectively), and likewise, they have a lower birth rate in spite of its high percentage of Catholic population. The out group, South Korea, similarly, has a high GDP per capita, and equally low birth rate. These three countries also have the lowest fertility rate (# of children per woman), than any of the other represented countries. Interestingly, Brazil and Mexico (in addition to the out group, India) have lower GDP per capita, and each also have a higher birth rate than other countries. Equally as interesting, India, who only has a GDP of $3,500 per capita, roughly doubles in its rate of births when compared to Italy and Spain. While one can argue that in religion may affect the decisions woman make in bearing children, it appears from this data that other factors, such as the standard of living of the population (represented by the GDP per capita) is a factor that may more closely influence families to have children.

Comparison	% Catholic	Population growth rate as of 2011	Birth rate per 1,000 births	Death rate per 1,000 deaths	infant mortality rate	Fertility rate: # child per woman	GDP per capita
ARGENTINA	92	1.017	17.54	7.38	10.81	2.31	14,700
BRAZIL	77	1.134	17.79	6.36	27.17	2.18	10,800
CHILE	70	0.836	14.33	5.97	7.34	1.88	15,400
ITALY	90	0.42	9.18	9.84	3.38	1.39	30,500
MEXICO	76	1.102	19.13	4.86	17.29	2.29	13,900
SPAIN	94	0.574	10.66	8.8	3.39	1.47	29,400
INDIA	unknown	1.344	20.97	7.48	47.57	2.62	3,500
SOUTH KOREA	6.6	0.23	8.55	6.26	4.6	1.23	30,000