The Changes of Family Values and their Role in Reducing Fertility in the Iranian Families

Social actions are influenced by the values that govern a society. Hence, the transformation of social action is a function of change in social values. Meanwhile, family is one of the important centers of changing values in society which causes in other areas of social life. Changes in family values are among the important components of the cultural system of society knowing which plays a role in identifying social changes. As an action, low rate of fertility is also affected by changes in family values. Fertility is a family issue, therefore any change in family values can change fertility. This paper seeks to investigate the role that family value changes play in reducing fertility in Iranian families. Data collection is documentary and library-based, and the descriptive- analytical method has been used for data analysis. However, to document the findings, the secondary analysis of statistics and the results of previous researches have also been used. Findings indicate that changes in family values affect fertility through the spread of individualism, devaluation of children, decreased sexual preference, weakness of religious beliefs, change in the value of marriage and increase in consumerism.