Fertility, Marriage, and Family Planning in Iran: Implications for Future Policy

Abstract

The Islamic Republic of Iran has experienced a remarkable demographic transition over the last three decades. As a result of social, demographic and economic changes, Iran’s fertility declined from 7.0 births per woman in 1980 to around 1.8 to 2.0 in 2011 based on our estimation (McDonald et al. 2015). The initial rise and rapid fall of fertility accompanied by a decline of child mortality led to a post-revolutionary youth bulge in the age distribution that will lead to rapid ageing in the longer-term future. Others have argued that Iran’s fertility has fallen to much lower levels - as low as 1.5 births per woman (eg. Erfani 2013). Such low estimates led to the Government of Iran adopting a pronatalist policy with the aim of increasing fertility, although the components of the policy are still under discussion. Different views have been expressed on the role of family planning and other programs in meeting population policy goals in Iran in the future with some advocating the discontinuation of government assistance to family planning. This paper aims to review the trends and levels of fertility, marriage, and family planning and their implications for policy. Using various datasets and detailed parity-based measures of fertility, the dynamics of fertility regulation practiced by Iranian couples are investigated. Our findings suggest that contraceptive use stabilized before 2000 and postponement of the first child and wide birth intervals are the main contributors to the level of fertility. Therefore, instead of discontinuation of the family planning program, policy to sustain fertility at its present level or a little higher needs to focus upon improving the economic circumstances of young people so that they are able to make less constrained choices about family formation than is the case at present.

Cultural Analysis of Half-Century Demographic Swings of Iran: The Place of Popular Culture

“…Therefore, it is acknowledged that a wide range of factors contributed to the women's birth fall in Iran during the recent years 6 . However, the results of this study, in accordance with prior studies (Abbasi-Shavazi, 2009;Foroutan, 2012, Foroutan, 2014Hosseini-Chavoshi et al, 2016;Ladier-Fouladi, 1997;McDonald et al, 2015), emphasize that the spectacular fertility transition in Iran mainly lies in different socio-cultural views and values contributed by the old and new generations.…”

“…In the search of exploring the true reason of the substantial demographic transition in Iran during the past decades, social and cultural progress' has been identified as the keystone of the fertility decline in Iran (Foroutan, 2014;Foroutan, 2019;Hosseini-Chavoshi et al, 2016;Ladier-Fouladi, 1997;McDonald et al, 2015;Mirzaei, 1998;Roudi, 2017). Using a cultural approach, the present paper provides evidence to explain the substantial intergenerational transition of demographic swings over the last decades.…”

Reasons Behind the Tendency Toward the Only Child in Iranian Families: A Conventional Content Analysis Study

“…Based on the slow population growth scenario depicted by the United Nations in 2010, if Iran continues to replace its population with the current trend and if it adopts no program to balance it, in the next 80 years, it will have a population of 31 million, 47% of which will consist of individuals aged over 60 years (14,15).…”

Risk Factors for Unintended Pregnancy in Women: A Nested Case-Control Study

“…On the other hand, changing the demography policies in Iran in recent years towards increasing childbearing can influence unintended pregnancies. It seems that this policy change has reduced access to free-of-charge contraceptives in health centers across the country (4).…”