Fecundidade e religião no Brasil: evidências dos censos demográficos

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the extent to which fertility patterns differ among the most representative religious groups in Brazil and how these differences have evolved across the Demographic Censuses of 2000, 2010, and 2022. In terms of approach, the research is classified as quantitative and descriptive, based on documentary analysis of census data. The results indicate that fertility in Brazil has declined across all three analyzed groups, although at different rates of transition. This heterogeneity is evidenced by the Completed Cohort Fertility (CCF), calculated for women aged 40 to 49, in which Evangelical women recorded an average of 2.12 children in 2022, higher than that observed among Catholic women (1.86) and women with no religion (1.90), remaining above the national Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 1.55. Over the analyzed period, there is a clear shift in the peak fertility age from 20–24 years in 2000 to 25–29 years in 2022, accompanied by the advancement of delayed motherhood. Childlessness among young women exceeds 64% across all groups, although Evangelical women tend to enter motherhood earlier. These findings show that fertility differentials among religious groups are expressed not only in the level but also in the timing of childbearing, and that they have followed distinct trajectories over time. The study concludes that the fertility transition in Brazil is not homogeneous, being characterized by differentiated patterns such as the reduction in completed family size, the postponement of motherhood, and varying intensities of these processes, reinforcing the role of religious affiliation in shaping recent fertility dynamics in the country.