Quality of life in employed and housewife women: a comparative study

To compare the quality of life between housewives and employed women in the city of zahedan. Quality of life was measured by use of Persian edition of standard tools (SF-36). The information, related to individual particularities (age, level of education, the amount of women's and men's income) was collected. In this study 220 women (110 workers and 110 housewives) were selected through multi-stage, randoly sampling and participated in the study. The data were recorded in the software of SPSS (13) and analyzed, utilizing ANOVA tests, t-test, and Pearson's Correlation coefficient. 77.3%of subjects were aged 23-24, with average age of 23.87 and standard diversion of 8.95.40%had academic education. t-test showed that employed women had higher average of scores in all life quality estimations, excepting physical function. They evaluated their health condition, as being better than that of housewives, in the scale of mental health (P=0.003) and vitality (P=0.01). The results of Pearson's correlation coefficient showed a direct and positive relation between the level of women's education and their spouses, income, as well as adverse and negative and meaningful relation between the level of education and the age of women(P<0.05). The results of study acknowledged the effect of occupation on the quality of life, especially, in its mental fields. There for, providing the women with social participation grounds. Job creation is proposed for improving the health and quality of life of women as a half of society's population.