»Empêcher la famille« : Fécondité et contraception au Québec, 1920-60

When Does Religion Influence Fertility?

“…The dominant role played by the Catholic Church in Quebec and the near universal participation of the francophone population in the rites of the faith were conducive to the persistence of a demographic pattern consistent with Catholic teaching on matters of sexuality and the family. Although the province experienced significant industrialization and urbanization during the second half of the nineteenth century, marital fertility in Quebec remained high, with the first signs of fertility decline appearing only near the turn of the century (Gauvreau and Gossage 1997;Gossage and Gauvreau 2000). McInnis (2000: 410) estimates an index of marital fertility I g of .80 for the province in 1891, 4 and one must remember that the province's population included a significant English Protestant minority among whom fertility control had clearly spread (Olson andThornton 1991, 1992 ).…”

“…Withdrawal was practiced by a minority of couples, especially in the city of Montreal, but was largely unknown in other regions of the province. In their assessment of these interviews, Gauvreau and Gossage (1997) suggest that the explicitly pronatalist and anti-contraceptive message of religious authorities was one key aspect of the Church's influence. A second was Catholic teaching on the proper role of a wife and her duty to obey her husband.…”

“…Several recent developments in the field would seem to justify renewed interest in this old question. The empirical findings of the Princeton studies of the decline of fertility in Europe helped touch off a wave of interest in ascertaining how cultural beliefs and practices, including religious ones, influenced the fertility transitions in Europe and elsewhere (Anderson 1986;Gauvreau and Gossage 1997;Lesthaeghe and Wilson 1986;McQuillan 1999). More recently, this concern has extended to attempts to account for variation in the pace of the second demographic transition (Lesthaeghe and Neels 2002).…”

Where have all the children gone? Quebec's fertility decline: 1941-1991

“…The influence of the Roman Catholic Church cannot be over-emphasized. Its control of education and ability to influence the government's social policies gave it decided influence over the lives of Quebecers (Gauvreau and Gossage, 1997). Not surprisingly, the Church had a central role in promoting a pronatalist agenda and, thereby, reinforcing traditional gender roles (Clio Collective, 1987;Gauvreau, 1991;Hamilton, 1995;Lavigne, 1986).…”