Authors
1
Associate Professor of Demography, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran and Adjunct Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts & Science, Nipissing University, Canada.
2
Professor of Demography and Sociology, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts & Science, Nipissing University, Canada, and Adjunct Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina University .
3
Master's Graduated Student in Demography, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran.
Abstract
Planning to deal with continued below-replacement fertility rates in Iran requires understanding of fertility intentions. This research investigates factors and reasons related to the childlessness intentions using data from the 2018 Hamedan Fertility and Marriage Survey (n = 2,002). According to the findings, 3.7% of the total sample intended to remain childless. Among these women, approximately 77% cited "concerns about the future of children" and "economic constrains" as the main reasons for not wanting children. The results of multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that a negative attitude towards the consequences of childbearing, dissatisfaction of the gender division of housework, women’s post-secondary education and employment were related to a higher likelihood of intending to be childless. Specially, after controlling for other variables, women with a negative attitude towards childbearing were 3.4 times more likely to intend to be childless compared to those with a positive attitude. Women who were dissatisfied with the gender division of housework also were 2.3 times more likely to intend to remain childless than those who were satisfied. The results suggest that the childbearing intention, as an immediate factor influencing fertility behavior, is affected by attitudes toward the consequences of childbearing and women’s satisfaction with their spouse’s participation in housework. Therefore, any population policies aiming at increasing fertility in Iran need to pay attention to resolve conflicts between women’s childbearing, employment and education.
Keywords
Subjects