3rd Assignment by Jinghui Sun

[Conclusion] 

Q: Does Catholic prohibition really have an influence on birth control use (reflected in a high birth rate) 

A: Based on the birth rate of 9 nations, the Catholic prohibition does not really have an influence or correlation with birth control. The highest birth rate of the 3 nations which do not have a notable Catholic population is Pakistan: 23.76 births/1,000 population. In the six nations which have high percentage of Catholic citizens, only one nation's birth rate(philippines: 24.62 births/1,000population) is higher than that. The lowest birth rate of the 3 nations which do not have a notable Catholic population is Russia: 12.11 births/1,000 population; in the 6 nations which have high percentage of Catholic citizens, 3 nations birth rates are even lower than that.  

Therefore, though there is a technologically conservative prohibition against birth control among Catholic populations, I don't really believe this prohibition really exist in behavior.

Q: Do other factors appear to play a greater role in birth rate (poverty, education, infant mortality rate, short average lifespan, etc.)? 

A: Infant mortality rate, poverty, education, short average lifespan appear to correlate more closely with birth rates than religious belief.

In the total 9 nations, the nations have higher infant mortality rate appear to have higher birth rate . For example, Philippine birth rate is 24.62 births/1,000population; in contrast, its infant mortality rate is 18.19 deaths/1,000 lives births ( which is higher than the most infant mortality rate of 9 nations) Italy, where the birth rate is 8.9 births/1,000 population, has the lowest  infant mortality rate.

Nations which have higher percentages of population below poverty line also appear to have higher birth rate. For instance, Mexico has 51.3% population that below poverty line, and its birth rate is 18.61 births/1,000 population.

Education level also appear to play a greater role in birth rate: nations which have higher school life expectancy and literacy also have lower birth rate. Italy have the highest literacy percentage and second highest school life expectancy, but it has the lowest birth rate. 

Nations which have longer average lifespan appear to have lower birth rate. The average lifespan for people in Spain is 81.37 years; the birth rate is only 10.14births/1,000 population.