Factors Affecting the Reluctance to have Children in the Staff of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences

In recent years, demographic changes have occurred dramatically in the world. One of the most important of these changes has been the unprecedented decrease in fertility in most regions of the world. In Iran, with the expansion of modernity processes, many aspects of life have changed that including the attitude of families towards having children. Severe decrease in fertility has been a common phenomenon in recent decades.

This descriptive-analytical study was conducted cross-sectionally in 2022. The target population consisted of married employees of childbearing age of administrations and assistants covered by Hamedan University of Medical Sciences, who were selected by census method. The data collection tool was a researcher-made checklist with demographic and specialized questions in accordance with the objectives of the study and in the dimensions of personal, economic, social and physical and mental health. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient, independent t test and one-way analysis of variance.

In this study, women made up the largest percentage of participants (54.4%). In terms of ethnicity, the majority of the participants were Fars. The education of 50% of the participants was graduate or higher. In this study, economic factors and then social factors showed the greatest impact on not wanting to have children.

The findings of our study indicate that various factors play an important role in the formation of fertility tendencies, the most important of which were economic and social factors. Also, the results showed that aggressive policies without education and acculturalization cannot be effective in increasing the desire to have children, but the adoption of any demographic and educational promotion policy should be implemented by considering all factors and in the long term.