Authors

• Ali Ghasemi
• Reza Nobakht
• Hamideh Savabi

Abstract

Family as the most basic institution of society is a cultural issue that is formed by social past and present actions of family members. Environmental and social conditions in childhood can affect some of the intentions and priorities such as age of marriage, number of
children, the timing of birth and other factors that affect composition of the family, particularly for women. This paper has tried to survey
women with a different attitude in respect to the major factors of
household structures. The survey data was obtained from 710 married
women, aged between 15 to 50, living in the cities of Tabriz and Ahar. Their childhood was divided in four historical periods; up to 1350, 1350 to 1357, 1358 to 1365 and 1366 to 1373. Differences in
educational and occupational characteristics of the cohort implied the
different social atmospheres of their childhood. This has led to the fact that respondents of different cohorts have different perceptions
regarding family formation, the value of children, number of children
and child sexual preference. Regarding the value of children, the
attitude of the generations before 1350 is similar to those after 136  and the generations during war are similar to those during the revolution. The younger generation, considered abortion more as a means of contraception, and preferred an only child more as compared with the previous generation. Conversely, the percentage preferring child's sex and three or more children was less in the younger generation as compared to the older generation. In some of the other social behaviors, a convergence was seen among the four generations studied. The social attitudes of women in respect to family composition can shape their children’s behavior towards population which in turn can cause major problem in the development of Iranian families
 

Keywords

• cohort
• marital attitudes
• attitudes to family composition
• child value
• married women aged 15 to 50 years