Why the lowest birth rates in Europe are in Italy, Spain and Greece, which are traditionally Catholic?

Question

Cont- and Orthodox countries that forbid contraceptive devices?
And the highest birth rates are countries like Norway and Sweden which are very liberal countries!

Are economic considerations more powerful than religious consideration?

Max,
here you go
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4786160.stm

Answer 1

i agree with Max in requesting a source. I would be very curious as to those supposed higher birth rates.... are they among married couples? The Catholic communities to which I belong have many families with upwards of 5+ children.

edit - thanks for the link. in reading the article the reason seems clear there versus the states -- in the US you are allowed 12 WEEKS off, not months and it's unpaid.

Answer 2

Europe is much like North America. The wealthiest countries in both Europe and North America are the Protestant ones. The poorer ones (Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala) are Catholic. Social scientists have explained that this is because of something called the Protestant work ethic. One of the core teaching of Protestantism was the goodliness of a hard day's work.

Answer 3

I think it is more like an economic reason than a religious one
1. Income
The cost of the lives increases and it will spend more money for raising children. Furthermore, the parents can't, and will not have time for their children since you need to work more for sustain their families. It will be a burden for those women who both have babies and work for their families, especially for those european countries which economy is just about to rise
2. Urbanization
The life in the cities is not affordable for a larger family
3. Social value changes:
Since women have "right to choose" and nobody wants to hire any pregnent worker, why sacrafice your works for children?

There are more social and financial aid for women in Norway and Sweden.

By the way France also has a high birth rate, probably because of their immigrants.

Answer 4

I have one for you.
It is a certainty that if you walk down the streets of Cebu you will see not meet not touch beautiful virgins that start at birth and are over thirty and forty. Gorgeous Catholic women that honor their Body and their Savior.
But the same can be said in China with Buddhist. In Arabia. India.
Only in the west have we taught our children to demand not only sexual activity but promiscuity and in all of this where are the parents. There is something sad here. Where is the God in your family?
I'm praying for the Battle Cry and for the kids. Just look at the brats on this site. Where are their parents.

Answer 5

At the time of the Berlin wall, eastern Germans escaping to West Germany were said "voting using their feet". Women vote using something else...
Too low or too high birth rate means there is something very wrong with women's conditions. Those societies being traditional has a lot to do with it.

Answer 6

1. Greece is an Orthodox country, with a small Catholic population.

2. all these countries have traditional families which live with the grandparents, so less chance for young girls to do anything unsupervised.

3. many of these countries also have dads with guns, and that is a great way to put off young lads from messing with the daughter.

4. finally, the northern countries have shorter daylight hours, miserable weather, and nothing to do at night to keep warm....

Answer 7

Why does it matter, what is the point in this question. It's not like there will be no children in these countries in the future. There are different opinions and different things cultures forbid, and different things cultures recognize as what they want.

Answer 8

I agree. Economic situations influence the human consciousness the most unseen than the most felt religious consciousness. Even people celebrate religious festivals with in their financial limits.

Answer 9

Like a virgin they want to be and less children by following the Fathers besides Europe has 500millions population to feed.

Answer 10

simple toiletmoi
it is to do with economic issues
there are actually countries in the world where people can not afford to have more than one baby, if that much