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Fertility Expectations of the Women of Tehran-Do Values of Children Still Matter?

Gouranga Dasvarma, Flinders University
Maryamsadat Hosseini, Flinders University
Udoy Saikia, Flinders University

The persistent trend of sub-replacement fertility in Tehran is at odds with women’s intentions to have more than two children. Using data from a survey of 400 married women aged 15-49 years in Tehran city, this study examines why women in a low fertility context of Tehran intend to have more children than they have or expect to have, and whether their values of children still matter in their fertility intentions. This study shows that large family values and economic benefits of children have a direct positive influence on women’s expected family size. The latest population census of Iran (2016), shows a slight increase in TFR of Tehran from 1.3 in 2011 to 1.5 in 2016. This probably relates to the preference for large families, which in turn might be a result of the government’s new pro-natalist population approach. This study also shows that highly educated women of Tehran have concerns about the negative consequences of population growth and mothers’ health. However, the influence of small family values appears not to be strong enough to outweigh the influence of large family values. Keywords: Value of children, fertility intentions, expected family size, economic benefits, economic costs, large family values

Keywords: Fertility and childbirth, Demographic and social surveys, Family demography

See extended abstract.

  Presented in Session P3.