Religion and Fertility

This work is a critical investigation into the relationship between religious affiliation, on the one hand, and fertility, family size preferences and family planning behaviour, on the other. Dr Chamie works from a set of unique data: the 1971 Fertility and Family Planning Survey in Lebanon. This survey is not only a national study of Lebanese fertility but also a large-scale survey (2,800 people) offering the opportunity to study Arab Christian-Muslim differentials. Lebanon's demographic situation has far greater scientific and practical importance than might be supposed from its relatively small population. From observing the important religious communities at different stages of social and economic development, Dr Chamie has thus been able to analyse the interacting effects of religion and socio-economic development on reproductive behaviour.