Association between Social Mobility and Quality-of-Life Index in Women of Rasht: A Population-Based Study in the Iranian Context

Life course research has shown that socioeconomic conditions in childhood have a profound impact on adult health. However, little is known about the different health effects of social mobility. This study was conducted to answer whether the intergenerational social mobility of women in Rasht is related to their quality of life index.  

This cross-sectional survey conducted in 2020–2021, in which the researcher created a social mobility questionnaire, was used to study the association between social mobility and the quality of life index of women aged 30-65 in Rasht. The current socioeconomic status of 784 married women in this city was compared to the previous socioeconomic status of their parents. Also, Ferrans and Power's quality of life index questionnaire was used. Data analysis was done using t-test and ANOVA.  

The mean (SD) score for the overall quality of life index was 21.60 (4.23) of 30. The majority of participants had immobility (350 of them or 44.6%). There was no statistically significant correlation between women's intergenerational mobility and their quality-of-life index (P = 0.734). Still, there was a statistically significant difference between the average score of the quality of life in the socioeconomic groups of the participants.  

Findings show that the women in Rasht did not have opportunities to promote their status or could not take advantage of these possibilities. Although our results did not show evidence for the effects of social mobility on quality of life, some scholars’ findings support the idea of the impact (negative or positive) of intergenerational upward mobility on well-being.