Women's Studies
Hajiieh Bibi Razeghi Nasrabad; sosan bastani
Abstract
Following the decrease in the fertility level and the change in the pattern of childbearing in Iran and its demographic, economic and social consequences, efforts have been made in the policy system in recent years to support the family and working women. One of the programs carried out in order to support ...
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Following the decrease in the fertility level and the change in the pattern of childbearing in Iran and its demographic, economic and social consequences, efforts have been made in the policy system in recent years to support the family and working women. One of the programs carried out in order to support working women and increase fertility in the country was to increase the length of maternity leave from six months to nine months.The purpose of this study is to interpret and represent the different dimensions of maternity leave among employed mothers. In fact, this study was an attempt to understand the effects of this policy in the continuation of women's participation in the labor market, improving the health of family members, developing the financial well-being of the family, maintaining the job values of mothers, and mothers' satisfaction, reducing work-family conflict from the perspective of working mothers who are the target group of this policy.The approach of this research is qualitative. The sample includes 25 employed women with maternity leave experience living in Tehran who was determined through purposive sampling with maximum diversity based on the level of theoretical saturation. The data collection method is an in-depth interview that was conducted in the fall and winter of 2022. This study was carried out in the conditions of the Corona epidemic, so this situation affected both the way of collecting information and the duration of the research. Therefore, some interviews were conducted in person and some by phone. The method of analysis was thematic analysis which was extracted in three methods of open, axial and selective coding. From the data analysis process, the core category of "paradoxical expression of maternity leave experience" was obtained, which arises from the two themes of "women's dual experience of maternity leave" and "contradictions in policies and executive plans". The category " women's dual experience of maternity leave " is the result of three sub-themes of "strengthening the family institution", "doubt in decision-making" and "job insecurity" which show the dual experience. According to the findings, "body management skills", "promoting the biological health of the child", "quality motherhood" and "helping the work-family balance" indicate women's perception of maternity leave as an opportunity to strengthen the family institution, but the decision phobia that It is caused by "fear of separation from the child" and "hesitation to return to work", and "insecurity and job degradation" is also an important part of mothers' experience. The understanding of employed mothers about how to implement the program also indicates that it is contradictory, which is included in three sub-themes: "lack of legislation", "closure of the private sector" and "openness of the public sector".Based on the lived experience of the mothers in this study, on the one hand, the maternity leave policy has helped the well-being of women and families and has provided the satisfaction of mothers in order to provide the well-being and peace of mother and child and restore their health. On the other hand, this program has been the source of some worries, fears and uncertainties, and it has many weaknesses due to the contradictions in the policies and executive programs in providing the safety of mind and well-being of working mothers. Of course, various conditions such as economic, family, work environment, physical conditions of mother and child, and the level of knowledge and ability of mothers in understanding and facing issues related to the conflict of work and family roles have created a diverse experience of maternity leave for women.In this regard, the review of policies related to the protection of working women shows that there are good protective laws in Iran. Existing laws such as breastfeeding hours, part-time work, child care services, reducing the working hours of women with special conditions can have a great impact on preventing personal and family issues, along with maternity leave. However, in addition to the ambiguity in the laws, the enforcement guarantee of these policies and laws has not been specified. In some cases, the implementation of laws has been left to the authority of the occupational organization. Therefore, it has caused the non-fulfillment of various support policies for working mothers. Therefore, it is important that maternity leave policy needs to be reviewed, monitored and redesigned according to the needs and conditions of mothers, children and employers.
Women's Studies
Hajiieh Bibi Razeghi Nasrabad
Abstract
This study aims at identifying the areas of work-family conflict as well as the ways to balance work and family plans. Its approach is qualitative, and its methodology is based on phenomenology. The sample involves 27 women with children under 12, who work in Tehran Municipality. They are selected through ...
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This study aims at identifying the areas of work-family conflict as well as the ways to balance work and family plans. Its approach is qualitative, and its methodology is based on phenomenology. The sample involves 27 women with children under 12, who work in Tehran Municipality. They are selected through purposive sampling with maximum variety in terms of age, number of children, position, and type of contract, then to be determined based on the theoretical saturation level. The data collection method is in-depth interview and the analysis method is thematic analysis, extracted in three methods of open, axial, and selective coding. Based on this study’s findings, the areas of conflict are divided into 8 sub-themes and 3 main themes: "high job requirements", "unequal gender approach in the private and public spheres", and "abandonment and marginalization of policies for family and childbearing ". Working mothers also make great efforts to adapt and use a variety of strategies. These strategies, extracted from a total of 95 basic concepts and 18 sub-themes, are classified into two main themes, namely "bounded rationality" and "formation of non-traditional organizational arrangements". In general, while policy initiatives can be effective in helping women adapt to dual roles, many women still address these issues on an individual or personal level. Working women feel that the policies adopted by the organization are insufficient and have no executive guarantee; therefore, they do not affect their lives significantly.
Hajiieh Bibi Razeghi Nasrabad; Hasan Saraei
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences in value of children between the 1960s, 1970s, after 1980 birth cohort, and identifying the factors affecting. The data for this study are drawn from a survey in Semnan province in 2012. Information is related to 405 married women aged 15-49 ...
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences in value of children between the 1960s, 1970s, after 1980 birth cohort, and identifying the factors affecting. The data for this study are drawn from a survey in Semnan province in 2012. Information is related to 405 married women aged 15-49 years. The result shows that the highest score of the children value belonged to the 1960 birth cohort. Protect, emotional and family continuity value in childbearing are characteristics of this cohort. In contrast, emphasis on the economic costs and lost opportunity costs, emotional and psychological benefits to children are characteristics of the 1980 birth cohorts. Based on this study, in line with the socio- economical changes, significant changes in childbearing attitude have emerged in three cohorts. Nevertheless, the 1960 birth cohort more than any other generation produces modern childbearing values and behaviors gives great importance to childbearing and because of the emotional value of children, one of the goals of younger cohort is childbearing. Multiple classification analysis showed that by controlling the effect of factors related to modernization and individual characteristics of respondents, the mean score of value of children within cohort changes. A more percent of the differences between the cohorts are affected by education variable. After entering these variables are considerably reduced the intensity of relationship between value of children and birth cohort. But, the differences in the value of children in three cohorts are still significant.
