Explaining Fertility in Urban-Dwelling Brazilian Women: Importance of Traditional Sex-Role Attitudes and Religious Orthodoxy

Path analysis was used to study the determinants of fertility in 221 urban-dwelling Brazilian women. Traditional sex-role attitudes and religious orthodoxy directly and positively affected family size. Religious orthodoxy also indirectly influenced fertility via its positive influence on traditional sex-role attitudes. Socioeconomic group affected fertility only by way of association with attitudes and beliefs. Contrary to expectation, participation in the labor force had no effect on the number of children women bore. Analysis within socioeconomic groups showed that determinants of fertility vary for women in different stages of cultural development.