THE SELECTIVE FUNCTION OF RELIGION 357 



Children per Marriage in Prussia, 1875-90, According to Religion of 

 Contracting Parties 



It may be seen from this table that the greatest number of 

 children (5.24) are born from marriages in which both parties are 

 Catholic. Marriages between people of different faiths is asso- 

 ciated with a marked reduction of the size of the family. 



The recent studies of von Schrenck have shown that the birth 

 rate of the Protestants in Riga has fallen to 15-16 per 1,000. With 

 a death rate of 19.5 per 1,000 the natural increase of the popula- 

 tion has practically stopped, and were it not for the Catholics 

 and the adherents of the Greek church, both of whom have a high 

 birth rate, it would probably decrease in number. The women of 

 Catholic Ireland rear a larger number of children than those of 

 England and Scotland whose population is mainly Protestant. 

 Webb states that from 1881-91, while the birth rate was falling 

 in England, the Irish birth rate (measured in terms of the fertility 

 of marriages) rose 3 per cent and in Dublin 9 per cent. 



The English towns with the highest birth rate are those with 

 the highest proportions of Catholics and Jews. Mr. Booth has 

 pointed out that in Leeds which contains a large Catholic and 

 Jewish population the birth rate is relatively high (23.2), while 

 in Bradford, which is located near by and has much the same 

 industries, the birth rate is much lower (19.3). The seven most 

 prolific boroughs in London are just those having the highest 

 proportions of Catholic and Jewish inhabitants. And among 

 people so similarly situated as the landed gentry of England 

 we find that while the number of children per family fell from 7.1 



