本文探讨了西班牙天主教徒的宗教虔诚度和生育率之间的关系，从而回答了生育率和宗教虔诚度急剧下降这两个平行趋势是否相互关联的问题。它着眼于当前的宗教信仰以及儿童时期的宗教信仰。使用唯一的、丰富的数据集。它包括宗教虔诚的各个维度:被调查者的宗教信仰;如果他是天主教徒-他目前的弥撒出席情况(6级)和他目前的祷告习惯(11级);配偶的宗教信仰;父母(母亲和父亲)和受访者在儿童时期的集体出席情况(9级);童年时期接受天主教教育(是/否)。关于宗教虔诚的多方面数据(而不是单一的二分变量)有助于得出严格结论的复杂分析。样本仅限于已婚天主教徒(女性和男性)的受访者，他们的父母是天主教徒，配偶是天主教徒，为了有一个同质的样本，并关注宗教虔诚(而不是宗教信仰)的水平(强度)对生育率的影响。 Fertility is related to the various dimensions of religiosity- first using cross-tabulation and then using OLS regression. We find that fertility is not related to current intensity of religiosity. Exposure to religious activities during childhood has a significant effect on fertility of women (but not men): interestingly a father who was actively attending mass services has a positive effect on his daughter’s future fertility (increasing the number of kids by about 0.8) while the mother’s active mass participation has a reverse negative effect (leading to a decrease of one kid). Own participation in mass services during childhood has a positive effect on fertility- leading to an increase of 0.6 kids if the girl attended mass services intensively This study indicates the significance of childhood experience in shaping the 'taste for children'. It also suggests that there is no direct link between the fast secularization in Spain and the decline in birth rates.