Marriage Postponement in Iran: District-level Analysis of Youth Singlehood Patterns

In recent years, the era of Iranian youth celibacy has become longer. The different trend of marriage postponement in different regions of Iran has led to the significant regional diversity in marriage timing between the provincal and district-level of the country. The purpose of this study is to examine the status and determinants of youth celibacy in the districts of Iran. The unit of analysis is 429 districts in Iran according to 2016 census. For this purpose, the proportions of single people in the districs of Iran has been studied, focusing on the ages of 25-39 years for men and women. According to the findings, some districs in the west and southwest of the Iran have the highest and in contrast, the center and northeast of the country have the lowest single proportion for both sexes. Celibacy ratios are inversely related to literacy ratio and activity rate and has a positive relationship with unemployment ratio. Independent variables explain 51% and 27% of the spatioal differences in the celibacy status of men and women aged 30-39 in Iran, respectively. Balanced national development policies to eliminate districts inequality can facilitate youth marriage and reduce regional differences in youth celibacy in Iran.