Analysis of the Socio-cultural Contexts of Fertility Decline in Iran

Fertility as a social action occurs in the socio-cultural context. Cultural and Institutional arrangements shape the values and norms of childbearing. Iranian fertility rate has experienced a dramatic decline in recent decades, and now is below-replacement level. Fertility transition in Iran is related to socio-cultural, economic and political changes. Using micro-census data and survey, the results of article show culture and cultural values, as the basis of human behaviors, plays an important role in shaping fertility behavior. Culture provide the rules of interpretation and meaning construction, that people depending on them, and in coping with socio-economic conditions, regulate their reproductive behaviors. The article concluded that the interaction of cultural and institutional/ structural forces leads to below- replacement level of fertility in Iran. Thus, increasing fertility to above replacement level, is multidimensional and complex policy-making process. It involves adopting and implement of sustainable family-friendly policies related to childbearing desirability, childbearing feasibility, and abilities to parenting