مطالعات زن و خانواده (Mar 2014)
A Comparative Study of the Attitude of Women Belonging to Various Cohort in the Age of Marriage and Family Combination
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
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