Religious differentials in fertility: Lebanon, 1971

Summary The principal objects of this study are the description and explanation of the effects of religious affiliation on fertility in the multi-religious society of Lebanon. The data are derived from the 1971 National Fertility and Family Planning Survey which is the first probability sample ever taken of Lebanese couples with wives aged 15-49 years. The present inquiry yields two major results. First, significant fertility differences do exist among Muslims and among Christians. To speak of Muslim-Christian fertility differences is, therefore, misleading. Secondly, religious fertility differentials, based on cumulative fertility, are dependent on the level of wife's education. At low levels of wife's education, differentials are great; at high levels, religious differentials in fertility are insignificant. These findings are believed to be of importance not only to researchers concerned with religious fertility differentials, but also to those concerned with framing population policies in countries where religious composition is a sensitive matter.