Challenges and opportunities confronting female-headed households in Iran: a qualitative study

Abstract

Background: Female-headed households are one of the most vulnerable groups of society that confront many problems and challenges. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the challenges and opportunities confronting female-headed households in Iran. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted among female-headed households in Kermanshah, West of Iran, in 2019. The data were collected through Semi-structured interviews with 26 female-headed households who were selected by purposeful and theoretical sampling. Data analysis was done through conventional qualitative content analysis, and the software MAXQDA-12 was used for the management of data. The four criteria of Goba and Lincon, including credibility, confirmability, dependability, and transferability, were observed to evaluate the quality of research results. Results: After analyzing the data, 4 main categories and 13 subcategories were obtained as follows: individual problems (role overload, role conflict, end of love, psychological problems), intra-family problems (declined independence, intra-family tension, poverty reproduction and family disability), social problems (stigma of being unattended, social insecurity, social isolation, social exclusion), positive outcomes (positive self-concept, social maturity). Conclusion: Female-headed households face many challenges that can become a big threat or an opportunity. Therefore, their health improvement can be achieved through training and helping them to adapt to new and multifaceted roles, providing more economic support and helping them raise their social status.

Psychological Well-Being of Female-Headed Households Based on Age Stratification: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study in South Korea

“…It has been further reconfirmed that family support is a positive and important factor affecting psychological health [34,35]. These findings are in line with the qualitative research [36] showing the problems of female-headed households have become a big threat such as role overload or poverty reproduction as well as an opportunity such as social maturity.…”

“…However, active policy support is also needed such as community resources to help prevent probable health problems in the future. In addition, their health improvement can be achieved through training and helping them to adapt to new and multifaceted roles, providing more economic support and helping them raise their social status [36].…”

Income Inequality in Mountain Areas: The Case of Agroforestry Farming Systems in Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania

“…As such, the mainstream literature on female-headed households and poverty indicates that female-headed households constitute the "poorest of the poor" (Chant, 2007;Liu & Treviño, 2017), and several other studies have shown a link between female-headed households with poverty and low socioeconomic status (Goebel et al, 2010;Javed & Asif, 2011;Montoya & Teixeira, 2017). In 2019, Lebni et al (2020) conducted a qualitative study among female-headed households in Kermanshah, West of Iran. They collected data through semi-structured interviews with female-headed households who were selected purposefully.…”

Exploring the reasons for women to engage in sex work in Tehran, Iran: A qualitative study

“…All participants provided written informed consent. The entire sample population was calculated using the theoretical saturation criteria [ 44 ]. In other words, data collection was halted when the researchers determined that more interviews and observations would not provide them with new information.…”