Religious worship frequency linearly predicts higher fertility across 82 countries

Evidence

A study comparing the fertility rates of European Jews found that the atheists had the lowest birthrate, averaging around 1.5 children per woman (again, below replacement), whereas the religious Jews averaged nearly three, with the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel averaging six to eight children per woman. This trend is strong and robust across cultures. For example, data from 82 countries reveals a linear relationship between frequency of religious worship and number of children, with those who worship more than once a week averaging 2.5 children compared to 1.7 (below replacement!) for those who never worship. Since religious beliefs and practices are importantly, though not exclusively, transmitted vertically from parents to children, these numbers suggest a key force that is pushing religious populations to expand and secular populations to shrink. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 495

A study comparing the fertility rates of European Jews found that the atheists had the lowest birthrate, averaging around 1.5 children per woman (again, below replacement), whereas the religious Jews averaged nearly three, with the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel averaging six to eight children per woman. This trend is strong and robust across cultures. For example, data from 82 countries reveals a linear relationship between frequency of religious worship and number of children, with those who worship more than once a week averaging 2.5 children compared to 1.7 (below replacement!) for those who never worship. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 495

Categorization

• XREF: The vertical transmission mechanism is the demographic engine behind the Big God proliferation — religious groups persist by out-reproducing, complementing the novel’s theme of faith passed down.
• QUESTION: The author flags a countervailing secularization force (wealth reduces religiosity); how does the demographic reproduction rate interact with existential-security-driven secularization over generations?
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 495