The Structure and Processes of Ethnicity: Catholic Family Size in Providence, Rhode Island

There is a tendency in demographic research to employ "values" as the explanation of religious and ethnic differentials in family size. A more valuable method of conceptualization has been found by examining the structure of the Irish and Italian ethnic groups and the processes involved in their assimilation. It is found that age at marriage and social class factors are of major importance in understanding the behavior of these two groups. Cross-sectional data collected in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1962 show that Italian family size declines as the result of assimilation. Irish family size increases from lower than that of Italians to being higher. Further research should tell us whether there will be a significant ethnic differential in the use of "artificial" methods of birth control, and, hence, in family size.