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RESEARCHERS, RELIGION AND CHILDLESSNESS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2015

Isabella Buber-Ennser  and
Vegard Skirbekk
Isabella Buber-Ennser*
Affiliation:
Wittgenstein Centre, Vienna Institute of Demography/Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
Vegard Skirbekk
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: Isabella.Buber-Ennser@oeaw.ac.at
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Summary

This study analysed childlessness and religion among female research scientists in the Austrian context. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of religion in intended childlessness and realized childlessness. The analysis was based on a representative sample of Austrian women aged 25–45 (N=2623), with a specific sample of female research scientists aged 25–45 (N=186), carried out in the framework of the Generations and Gender Survey conducted in 2008/09. The results indicate that religious affiliation and self-assessed religiosity are strongly related to fertility. Multivariate analyses reveal that education has no explanatory power in terms of explaining intended childlessness, once religious affiliation and self-assessed religiosity are taken into consideration.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 48 , Issue 3 , May 2016 , pp. 391 - 405
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2015 

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