Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Demography, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Over the past decade, various and heterogeneous types of households have emerged in Iran, resulting from economic, social, and demographic changes. One of the most significant demographic changes in the country is the increase in the frequency of female-headed households. Comparing the establishment of female-headed families in developed and developing countries indicates that social, economic, and demographic factors have different effects on these types of households. Therefore, through a Critical study of all existing research, which has focused on central averages and disregards micro-level changes, it is possible to establish a clear foundation for policies affecting female-headed families. Focusing on female-headed families, as a distinct group, this study examined their similarities and differences in social, economic, and demographic aspects at the county level, and studied their distribution within the theoretical frameworks of second demographic transition and inequalities concerning drive and pressure mechanisms. Based on the current theoretical and experimental literature, this study classifies the existing components in terms of their role in the formation of female-headed families as "driver" and "pressure." Voluntary drivers of the feminization of household headship were analyzed using the second demographic transition theory and the forced pressures of feminization of household headship were investigated in the context of inequality theory.
This paper examines the role of driver and pressure mechanisms on the distribution of female-headed households in 429 Iranian counties in 2016 using data from the Statistical Center of Iran and spatial autocorrelation (Moran’s I and Getis index), K-mean clustering and ordinary least squares regression methods. The results of spatial autocorrelation revealed that southeast counties have the highest concentration of female-headed households, while the lowest concentration is observed in northwest counties extending in a line to the center. According to the spatial clustering model and the hierarchical exploratory analysis method on the variables of the percentage of female-headed households, economic, demographic, and social status, the counties are divided into five clusters with the smallest difference from the central average in each cluster and the greatest difference with the next cluster in the best case: cluster 1 includes only three counties and is considered an outlier;  cluster 2 contains the north-west, south, and north-east counties and affected by economic drivers; cluster 3 contains central and northern counties and affected by social and demographic drivers; cluster 4 contains western and southwestern counties and affected by demographic and economic pressures; and cluster 5 contains southeastern and eastern counties and affected by social and economic pressures.
Furthermore, the results of ordinary least squares regression revealed that the covariates explain 75% of fluctuations in the frequency of female-headed families. The three economic components of the percentage of jobless families, employment rate of urban women, and economic participation rate had a positive and significant impact (at an error level of less than 0.001) on the development of female-headed households. The socio-demographic components of the percentage of widowed women, early marriage, percentage of divorced women, and the literacy rate of women had a positive and significant effect, and the two components of the percentage of the ever-married population and the percentage of the urban population had a negative and significant effect (at an error level of 0.001) on the formation of female-headed households in counties of Iran.
Generally, Social, economic, and demographic changes have a relatively strong impact on the formation of female-headed households via two driving and pressuring mechanisms. As a result, empowering women in the context of the second demographic transition can increase these households in districts (central and north counties) influenced by the driving mechanism.  Continued social, economic, and demographic pressures can increase these households in districted (southeast counties) affected by the pressuring mechanisms. Thus, policymaking based on the role of these mechanisms may help the state to empower and support these families.

Keywords

Abbasi-Shavazi, M. J., Philip Morgan, S., Hossein-Chavoshi, M., & McDonald, P. (2009). Family change and continuity in Iran: Birth control use before first pregnancy. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(5), 1309-1324. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1741-3737.2009.00670.x
Aghajanian, A., & Thompson, V. (2013). Female headed households in Iran (1976–2006). Marriage & Family Review, 49(2), 115-134. https://doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2012.728558.
Akbarmousavi, S., & Haghighat, J. (2016). Estimate time series of human capital based on average years of schooling (A case study of Iran, 1978-2013). Journal of Applied Economics Studies in Iran, 5(17), 131-150. (In Persian)
Aligholi, M. (2015). Female labor force and economic development of Islamic countries. Women's Studies Sociological and Psychological, 4(12), 63-86. (In Persian)
Al-Khraif, R., Abdul Salam, A., & Abdul Rashid, M. F. (2020). Family demographic transition in Saudi Arabia: emerging issues and concerns. Sage Open, 10(1), https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020914556
Angel, R., & Tienda, M. (1982). Determinants of extended household structure: Cultural pattern or economic need. American journal of Sociology, 87(6), 1360-1383.
Anselin, L. (1996). Interactive techniques and exploratory spatial data analysis. in: P. Longley. M. Goodchild. D. Maguire and D. Rhind (eds.), Geographical Information Systems: Principles, Techniques, Management and Applications. Cambridge: Geoinformation International.
Atoh, M., Kandiah, V., & Ivanov, S. (2001, March). The second demographic transition in Asia. In document présenté lors de la conférence de l’UIESP Perspectives on Low Fertility: Trends, Theories and Policies (pp. 21-23).
Bagi, M., & Abbasi-Shavazi, M. J. (2020). Household Dynamics in Iran: Study of Changes in Family and Household Structure over Four Decades. Journal of Population Association of Iran, 15(30), 203-230. https://doi.org/10.22034/jpai.2021.241891 (In Persian)
Bryceson, D. F., & Vuorela, U. (2020). Transnational families in the twenty-first century. In The transnational family (pp. 3-30). Routledge.
Buvinić, M., & Gupta, G. R. (1997). Female-headed households and female-maintained families: are they worth targeting to reduce poverty in developing countries. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 45(2), 259-280.
Carroll, M.C., Reid, N. & Smith, B.W. (2008) Location quotients versus spatial autocorrelation in identifying potential cluster regions. Ann Reg Sci, 42, 449–463. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-007-0163-1
Cooney, R. S. (1979). Demographic components of growth in white, black, and Puerto Rican female-headed families: Comparison of the Cutright and Ross/Sawhill methodologies. Social Science Research, 8(2), 144-158.
Crabtree, S. A. (2007). Culture, gender and the influence of social change amongst Emirati families in the United Arab Emirates. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 38(4), 575-588. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.38.4.575
Dehghan shabani, Z., hadian, E., & negahdari, J. (2019). Analysis of the Relationship between Regional Inequality and Economic Development in Iran: Spatial Dynamic Panel Data Approach. Journal of Economic Research (Tahghighat- E- Eghtesadi), 54(4), 875-890. https://doi.org/10.22059/jte.2019.74169 (In Persian)
Ebrahimzadeh, I., Yari, M., & Sabzi, B. (2012). An Analysis of tourism planning and development in Lorestan province using SWOT strategic model. Town and Country Planning, 4(6), 101-124. https://doi.org/10.22059/jtcp.2012.28791 (In Persian)
Esping-Andersen, G., & Billari, F. C. (2015). Re-theorizing family demographics. Population and Development Review, 41(1), 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2015.00024.x
Getis, A. and Ord, J.K. (1996) Local spatial statistics: An overview. In: Longley, P. and Batty, M., Eds., Spatial Analysis: Modeling in A GIS Environment, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 261-277.
Goebel, A., Dodson, B., & Hill, T. (2010). Urban advantage or urban penalty. A case study of female-headed households in a South African city. Health & Place, 16(3), 573-580. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2010.01.002
Zonooz, B. H. (2005). POVERTY AND INEQUALITY OF INCOME IN IRAN. SOCIAL WELFARE, 4(17), 165-206. SID. https://sid.ir/paper/533501/en (In Persian)
Hartigan, J. A., & Wong, M.A. (1979) Algorithm AS 136: A K-Means Clustering Algorithm. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series C (Applied Statistics), 28, 100-108. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2346830
Hinman, S. E. (2017). Comparing spatial distributions of infant mortality over time: Investigating the urban environment of Baltimore, Maryland in 1880 and 1920. Applied geography, 86, 1-7.        https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2017.06.015
IPHC. (2016, 2018). Iran’s Population and Housing Census). 2016, 2018). ESCAP, Statistical Center of Iran, Available from: https://www.amar.org.ir
Jamali, F., Ghanbari, A., & Pourmohammadi, M. R. (2010). An approach to the concept of inequality and relevant concepts in socio-economic studies. The Journal of Spatial Planning, 14(2), 122-141. SID. https://www.sid.ir/paper/171934/en (In Persian)
Karimi Moughari, Z., Nazifi Nainie, M., & Abbaspour., A. (2013). Evaluating the Economic factors affecting employment of women in Iran Using artificial neural network approach. Women’s Studies Sociological and Psychological. 11(3), 53-80. https://doi.org/10.22051/jwsps (In Persian)
Kossoudji, S., & Mueller, E. (1983). The economic and demographic status of female-headed households in rural Botswana. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 31(4), 831-859. https://doi.org/10.1086/451360 
Kriegel, H.-P., Schubert, E., & Zimek, A. (2017). The (black) art of runtime evaluation: Are we comparing algorithms or implementations. Knowledge and Information Systems, 52(2), 341-378. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10115-016-1004-2
Lesthaeghe, R. (2010). The unfolding story of the second demographic transition. Population and Development Review, 36(2), 211-251. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2010.00328.x
Lesthaeghe, R. J., & Neidert, L. (2006). The second demographic transition in the United States: Exception or textbook example. Population and Development Review, 669-698. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2006.00146.x
MacKay, D. J., & Mac Kay, D. J. (2003). Information theory, inference and learning algorithms. Cambridge university press.
Ogden, P. E., & Hall, R. (2004). The second demographic transition, new household forms and the urban population of France during the 1990s. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 29(1), 88-105. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0020-2754.2004.00116.x
Pourasghar Sangachin, F., Salehi, E., & Dinarvandi, M. (2012). Measurement of the Development Level of Iran's Provinces with Factor Analysis Approach. Town and Country Planning, 4(7), 5-26. https://doi.org/10.22059/jtcp.2013.30343 (In Persian)
Pourmohammadi, M., & Ghorbani, R. (2018). The comparative investigation of GWR and OLS methods in estimation of location models. Geographical Urban Planning Research, 22(63), 315-338. https://www.sid.ir/paper/382313/fa (In Persian)
Rimaz, Sh., Dastoorpoor, M., Vesali, S., Saiepour, N., Nedjat, S., Sadeghi, M., & Khoei, E. M. (2015). Investigation of relationship between social capital and quality of life in female headed families. Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 29, 270.
Sadeghi, H. A., Azizi, A., & Sadeghi, R. (2022). The impact of gender gaps on the environmental performance in selected countries. Woman in Development & Politics, 20(3), 389-413. https://doi.org/10.22059/jwdp.2022.339832.1008173 (In Persian)
Sekhu, T. J. (2012). Socio-economic determinants of poverty amongst female-headed households in a South African township. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies, 4(1), 409-418.
Shahpari Sani, D., Sadeghi, R., Hadadi, J., Khajenexad, R., Hosseini, M., & Mahmoudian, H. (2021). Analysis of the demographic, social and economic situation of female-headed households in Iran. Quarterly Journal of Women and Society, 12(47), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.30495/jzvj.2021.25575.3320 (In Persian)
Tamizifar, R., Azkia, M., & Vosoughi, M. (2020). Sociological analysis of development and inequality in Iran. Sociological Review, 27(1), 315-338. https://doi.org/10.22059/jsr.2020.78519 (In Persian)
Torabi, F., Abbasi-Shavazi, M. J., & Askari-Nodoushan, A. (2015). Trends in and patterns of solo living in Iran: an exploratory analysis. Journal of Population Research, 32(3), 243-261. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43919978
UNFPA. (2019). Atlas of situation of female headed household (1st ed). (In Persian)
Waitzkin, H. (2007). Political economic systems and the health of populations: historical thought and current directions. In Macrosocial Determinants of Population Health (pp. 105-138). Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-70812-6_5
Worobey, J. L., & Angel, R. J. (1990). Poverty and health: Older minority women and the rise of the female-headed household. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 370-383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136820
Yoosefi Lebni, J., Mohammadi Gharehghani, M. A., Soofizad, G., & Irandoost, S. F. (2020). Challenges and opportunities confronting female-headed households in Iran: a qualitative study. BMC Women’s Health, 20(1), 1-11. https://bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12905-020-01046-x