Religion and Women’s Fertility in Turkey: An Islamic Context

There is a scarcity of research on the association between religion and fertility outside of the Western world. Therefore, the main purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship between religious dimensions and women’s fertility in Turkey. Guided by religious perspectives and by using data from the 2013 Turkey Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS) (N = 7,219) several hypotheses were developed and tested to determine this relationship. Two indicators of fertility were used: number of children and number of children plus current pregnancy. Results from regression models indicated that three religious determinants including performing namaz, fasting, and wearing a headscarf were significantly and positively associated with women’s fertility while attending the Quran course was negatively linked to women’s fertility. The findings of the study were discussed in the social and cultural context of Turkey