Economic Insecurity and Fertility: Case Study of Married Women in Sanandaj District

Below-replacement fertility and low childbearing ideals are amongst the prevailing characteristics in contemporary Iran including Kurdistan province. In response to recent population changes, pronatalist policies have been designed and successful implementation of these policies and plans depend upon a deep understanding of the reasons behind low fertility. Various theories have paid attention to fertility behaviors from economic perspective and attributed the low fertility level to the economic insecure conditions and a response to the gap between economic realities and expectations. Specifically, the adherents of risk aversion theory have conceived the delay in childbearing as individual's behavioral management mechanism related to their economic conditions or expectations. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of economic insecurity on the fertility behavior and ideal among married women in Sanandaj's urban and rural households. The data for this study is drawn from a survey using structured questionnaire conducted among 534 households in the Autumn2014. The results of study showed that the impact of economic insecurity on women's low fertility behavior and ideal is significant. According to multivariate analyses, notwithstanding the modifier impacts of such variables as education, the gap between economic realities and expectations and age, the impact of economic insecurity on fertility remained significant in the models. The policy implication of study is that in designing and implementation of pro-natalist policies and facilitating childbearing attention to the economic conditions of couples in reproductive ages is necessary.