Social Capital and Childbearing Tendencies with Emphasis on Generational Differences (Case Study: Babol City)

Abstract

Aim: The present study aims to investigate the effects of social capital components on childbearing tendencies with an emphasis on generational differences. Method: The statistical population of this study is people aged 15 years and older in Babol city. Using Cochran’s formula, 383 people were selected as the sample population and a multi-stage cluster sampling method was used. The research method, survey, and data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity was confirmed through face validity. The reliability of the items was obtained through Cronbach’s alpha of 0.8. Also, the theoretical framework of this study was a combination of theories of social capital and childbearing tendencies. Findings: The results of the Pearson test indicated a statistically significant correlation between some variables of social capital and childbearing tendencies. Furthermore, the results of generation regression analysis on some independent variables (trust, support, and real social network) and research dependent variables showed that 23.7% of the changes in these variables could be explained by generations. Also, the results of social capital regression analysis on childbearing tendencies revealed a relationship between the variables of social trust, social support, and real social network. Among these three variables, social support was found to be the strongest predictor variable with a beta coefficient of 0.387. The results of path analysis, like regression analysis, showed the effect of age, trust, support, and real social network variables on childbearing tendencies; in total, social support variable had the greatest overall effect on childbearing tendencies (0.492).