Payesh (Aug 2021)
The Study of Economic and Social Status of Iranian female-headed households: a secondary analysis
Abstract
Objective (s): In Iran, recent official data show a growing trend in the number of female-headed households. On the other hand, female-headed households are known as vulnerable groups in society that need attention in various social, economic and health aspects. Methods: This study used the secondary analysis of the combined file of household characteristics and personal characteristics of 2% of the general population and housing census data of 2016, which was collected by the Statistics Center of Iran. The extracted variables analyzed by individual level included age, number of children, marital status, place of residence, migration status, education, literacy, working status and household level variables included number of household members, living area measured in square meters, residential house ownership and type of residential house. Results: Based on the analysis of 2% of the census data, female-headed households constitute 12.5% of the Iranian heads of households. The percentage of caretaker is significantly related to age and about 50% of women-headed households are 60 years and older. Marital status also indicates that 68% of the reasons for headed women are due to the death of the husband and 12% are due to divorce. Also, 14% of women who have a husband are heads of households. 44% of women-headed households are living in single family, and female-headed households are less mobile than male-headed households. Literacy is significantly related to gender and 54% of female-headed households are illiterate. Only 14% of women -headed households are employed. 24.8% of women -headed households live in mortgaged and rented houses and about 7% of them live in houses with 40 square meters and less. Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, it can be said that the leading challenges of women -headed households follow three cultural dimensions such as issues related to widowhood and barriers to remarriage, economic dimensions such as housing and employment and demographic issues such as living in single family. Policy-making is necessary in all three dimensions.
