Status of Women and Fertility in Iran

Abstract

The determinants of gender inequality of women specifically access to education health and economic resources including paid employment of women at the community level are examined. The association between fertility and the relative status of women and development is analyzed with 1976 census data from 162 communities in Iran. Hypothesis 1 linked the higher the status of women to development; hypothesis 2 to the later the family formation and lower fertility; and hypothesis 3 postulated higher development in the community with later family formation of women and lower fertility. At the primary level the enrollment rate of females is 74% of the enrollment rate for male children; at the middle school level the rate is only 54%; at the high school level the rate is less than 1/2 of that of male enrollment. The rate of mortality for 1-4 old females was 18.9/1000 people while for males it was 14.7 according to 1977 Iran Statistical Centre data. The average ratio of female labor force participation to that of men aged 15-64 was 17. On the average 34.2% of women 15-19 were ever-married in 1976 in Iran. The standardized regression coefficients for the models on development and gender inequality variables support the hypothesis concerning a lower proportion of ever-married women aged 15-19. In model 3 the coefficient for paid employment means the higher the relative access of women to paid employment the lower the proportion of family formation below age 20 and the explained variance is statistically significant. In model 4 the health variable (female:male ratio ages 1-4) adds to the explained variance in the family formation variable. The mean value of child-women ratio in the analysis of fertility and gender inequality is 801 children under 5/1000 women 15-44. In the final model the early family formation variable adds significantly to the total variance explained. In addition the effects of relative access to education employment and health are transmitted through early family formation in model 5.