Fertility and Family Economy in the Iranian Rural Communities

The impact of economic factors on family size was investigated among 505 couples living in southern rural Iran. Findings supported the hypothesis that large family size was characteristic of households in which the family members worked as a productive agricultural unit and smaller family size was characteristic of non-farm families. A 50% random sample of married women aged 15-50 living in 25 villages was drawn and these women and their husbands were interviewed. Multiple classification analysis was performed using fertility as the dependent variable and husbands occupation wifes economic activity and landholding size as independent variables. Husbans education and age at marriage were used as control variables. Findings were 1) the average parity for all couples was 5.69; 2) the average parity for women aged 40-44 was 8.20; 3) farm families had higher parity than non-farm families; 4) families with landholdings larger than 5 hectares had higher parity than families with smaller landholdings; and 5) the economic activity of the wife which in this region is confined almost exclusively to the manufacturing of craft items within the household setting had little impact on fertility. Tables provided 1) mean parity by age groups in the sample villages and in rural Iran; 2) age specific fertility rates for sample villages and for rural Iran; and 3) results of the statistical analysis.