The association between religiosity and fertility intentions via grandparenting: Evidence from GGS data

Dantis, Charalampos [UCL] Rizzi, Ester Lucia [UCL] Baudin, Thomas [UCL]

Although the literature on the association between religiosity and fertility in European countries is already quite extensive, studies exploring the mechanisms of action of religiosity are rare. The main aim of this article is to study whether grandparenting is an intermediate or modifying variable in the association between religiosity and the intention to have a second or third child. One assumption is that more religious grandparents might put more effort into establishing a positive family relation with adult children and grandchildren, thus more strongly influencing their adult children’s fertility intentions. Using Generations and Gender Survey (GGS) data for eleven European countries, we find evidence of a strong and positive effect of religiosity on fertility intentions. We also observe that receipt of regular or weekly help from grandparents positively modifies the association between religiosity and fertility intentions, albeit only the intention to have a second child.