Fatemeh Torabi; Sajad Mesgarzadeh
Abstract
Increased rate of unemployment and growth of divorce are instances of a risky society that can affect women and men’s decisions about family formation. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the indicators of risky society and the mean age at first marriage among women and ...
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Increased rate of unemployment and growth of divorce are instances of a risky society that can affect women and men’s decisions about family formation. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the indicators of risky society and the mean age at first marriage among women and men in Iran. The paper uses the district-level data from the 2011 Iranian census. The results show that these indicators explain a considerable proportion of district-level differences in age at marriage (51% of the variation in the mean age at first marriage of men and 38% of the variation in the mean age at first marriage of women). In particular, economic indicators (i.e. unemployment rate and unemployment rate among highly educated people) have the greatest positive impact on the mean age at first marriage among both men and women. Furthermore, among factors measuring the risk of marriage breakdown, the percentage of divorced men has a positive impact on the mean age at first marriage among both sexes. Thus, actions towards job creation and higher stability of marriage can be expected to reduce the risk factors associated with marriage and facilitate its formation.