Female or Male Fertility Motivation? Which One Determines the Number of Children? (A Comparative Study)
Abstract
Background: In the last three decades, childbearing in Iran has decreased more than many countries in the world. The aim of this study was to explore the fertility motivation of Working women and their husbands and discover which one determines the number of children.
Materials and Methods: This correlational study was conducted on 540 employed, married women and their husbands (270 couples) living in Mashhad, Iran, during 2017–2018. The participants were selected through multistage cluster sampling. Then, a random number table was used. Subsequently, questionnaires were distributed and completed at home, and collected after 24 h. Data were collected using a demographic characteristics form and the Childbearing Questionnaire (CBQ).
Results: The mean(SD) positive motivation scores of men and women differed significantly [92.77 (13.04) Vs. 92.22 (13.51) df = 4; p = 0.001;]. The mean (SD) negative motivation scores of men and women also differed significantly 55.42 (10.94) Vs. 56.78 (10.57) df = 4; p = 0.001;].
Conclusions: According to the scores obtained for the positive and negative fertility motivations of working women and their husbands, women were more in favor of having children and had an ambivalent motivation to bear children. Moreover, the working women’s spouses were more indifferent to fertility. The results of this study can help reproductive health policymakers in childbearing.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Seyedtabib M, Moghimbeigi A, Mahmoudi M, Majdzadeh R, Mahjub H. Pattern and determinant factors of birth intervals among Iranian women: A semi parametric multilevel survival model. J Biosoc Sci 2020;52:534 46.
Jonas K, Crutzen R, Krumeich A, Roman N, van den Borne B, Reddy P. Healthcare workers’ beliefs, motivations and behaviours affecting adequate provision of sexual and reproductive healthcare services to adolescents in Cape Town, South Africa: A qualitative study. BMC Health Serv Res 2018;18:109. doi: 10.1186/s12913 018 2917 0.
Astrachan JH, Binz Astrachan C, Campopiano G, Baù M. Values, spirituality and religion: Family business and the roots of sustainable ethical behavior. J Busin Ethics 2020;163:637 45.
Naz MSG, Ozgoli G, Sayehmiri K. Prevalence of infertility in Iran: A systematic review and meta analysis. Urol J 2020;17:338 45.
Duvander A Z, Fahlén S, Brandén M, Ohlsson Wijk S. Who makes the decision to have children? Couples’ childbearing intentions and actual childbearing. Adv Life Course Res 2020;43:100286.
Alexander KA, Perrin N, Jennings JM, Ellen J, Trent M. Childbearing motivations and desires, fertility beliefs, and contraceptive use among urban African American adolescents and young adults with STI histories. J Urban Health 2019;96:171 80.
Ghazanfarpour M, Arghavani E, Khadivzadeh T, Saeidi M, Kareshki H, Irani M, et al. Childbearing motivation in Iranian engaged couples: A structural equation model. Int J Pediatr 2018;6:7563 8.
Mynarska M, Rytel J. Fertility desires of childless poles: Which childbearing motives matter for men and women? J Fam Issues 2020;41:7 32.
Miller WB, Jones J, Pasta DJ. An implicit ambivalence indifference dimension of childbearing desires in the National Survey of Family Growth. Demographic Res 2016;34:203 42.
McCool Myers M, Theurich M, Zuelke A, Knuettel H, Apfelbacher C. Predictors of female sexual dysfunction: A systematic review and qualitative analysis through gender inequality paradigms. BMC Women Health 2018;18:108. doi: 10.1186/s12905 018 0602 4.
Khadivzade T, Arghavani E. Religious beliefs and fertility preferences among engaged couples, referring to premarital counseling centers of Mashhad, Iran. J Midwifery Reprod Health 2014;2:238 45.
Piltan F, Rahmanian M. Sociological study of factors affecting willingness to childbearing women and married men (Case study: Women and men 52 to 52 years old in Jahrom). Soc Dev Stud 2015;7:121 34.
Okun BS, Raz Yurovich L. Housework, gender role attitudes, and couples’ fertility intentions: Reconsidering men’s roles in gender theories of family change. Populat Dev Rev 2019;1:169 96.
Abasi Z, Keshavarz Z, Abbasi Shavazi MJ, Ebadi A, Esmaily H, Poorbarat S. Comparative study of reproductive behaviors in two ethnicities of fars and Turkmen in North Khorasan, Iran. J Midwifery Reprod Health 2022;10:3109 18.
Tonekaew P, Choiejit R. The short run and long run relationship among fertility and female labor force participation rate and childcare availability. J Busin Econ Communic 2022;17:99 118.
Desai A, Singh R, Bhatt S. Alignment of role spaces of women to achieve work home equilibrium? A timeline study In India. J Positi Sch Psychol 2022;6:6849 74.
Alderotti G. Female employment and first childbirth in Italy: What news? Genus 2022;78:1 19.
Young M, Milkie MA, Schieman S. Mother–father parity in work–family conflict? The importance of selection effects and nonresponse bias. Social Forces. 2022. doi: 10.1093/sf/soac015.
Langher V, Fedele F, Caputo A, Marchini F, Aragona C. Extreme desire for motherhood: Analysis of narratives from women undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART). Eur J Psychol 2019;15:292 311.
Miller WB, Millstein SG, Pasta DJ. The measurement of childbearing motivation in couples considering the use of assisted reproductive technology. Biodemogr Social Biol 2008;54:8 32.
Kordzanganeh J, Mohamadian H. Psychometric assessment of the validity of the Iranian version of attitude toward fertility and childbearing inventory in women without a history of pregnancy in the South of Iran. J Sch Public Health Instit Public Health Res 2019;17:83 94.
Arasteh A, Akbariyan A, Asadi F. Comparing factors influencing fertility desire among urban and rural families referring to healthcare centers in Ferdows, Iran, in 2020. Int J Epidemiol Res 2022:9:107 12.
Khadivzadeh T, Roudsari RL, Bahrami M, Taghipour A, Shavazi JA. The influence of social network on couples’ intention to have the first child. Iran J Reprod Med 2013;11:209 18.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.