Ranking of affecting factors on the quality of life of employed and housewives women (Using AHP technique)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Social Science, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Sistan And Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran.

2 Department of Social Science, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran.

Abstract

The transformation of society, the independence of the work environment from the family environment, changes in some other institutions, including the generalization of formal education, and the economic need of households increased society and families' demand for women's employment. In the industry and service sectors, it led to the entry of women into the labor market, and as a result, the number of employed women increased. Therefore, the connection of life with employment or being a housewife is one of the most critical issues for the quality of life of women in society, which can play a fundamental and decisive role in managing the lives of employed and married women. Meanwhile, in recent decades the issue of quality of life has attracted the attention of many scientists. Although it is crucial to study the quality of life of all the strata of society, in the meantime, paying attention to the way of women life and their quality of life can be very effective in improving the health of families, today's and tomorrow's generations, and ultimately the entire society. Considering the change in the lifestyle and traditional roles of women in today's society, as well as their extensive participation in various fields, the present research aims to rank the factors affecting the quality of life of employed and married women. The current research is a type of applied study with the nature of a descriptive-survey research method. The target statistical population in Mehrestan city consists of 16 married women (employed or not) with at least five years of marriage history and a master's degree in sociology, who, due to the unwillingness of some of them to cooperate in research or the impossibility of accessing them, finally 13 (including seven employed-housewives and six unemployeds) experts cooperated in completing the questionnaires and were studied as the statistical sample of the research. It is worth mentioning that due to the limitation of the studied society, an enumeration method was used for sampling. The information in this research is collected from library materials(books, articles, reliable scientific databases), standard questionnaires, and paired matrix questionnaires (experts). To measure the validity of the questionnaire, identifying the factors based on the Likert scale, considering the standard questionnaire, face validity was used, and measuring its reliability based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient shows good reliability. Also, according to the calculated inconsistency rate (less than 0.1), the expert questionnaire has good reliability. Data analysis concluded using AHP hierarchical analysis model and Expert choice software. The findings of this research indicate that among the sixaffecting factors on the quality of life of employed and unemployed married women in Mehrestan city, the social relationship was identified as the main factor. In the following, the social security factor was second, the social support factor was third, the social status factor was fourth, the cultural capital factor was fifth, and the public health factor was ranked sixth. This research showed that women's social ties in their quality of life stands higher than other factors, and social security, support, and status are in the next level. In other words, the most paramount factor in women's quality of life is having a network of healthy social relationships with favorable social security, support, and status compared to others. Cultural capital is also effective in women's access to resources and improving their quality of life. Also, with the increase in women's general health, their quality of life increases. Therefore, it can be accepted that employed married women are attracted to the social framework due to their participation in social activities, and as a result, they do not see a difference between individual and social values, and they have a sense of responsibility and trust towards social values and norms that increase social integration. Therefore, they feel that the community's fate is related to its components, and thet they see the community as a suitable place for their evolution. This positive attitude towards the community and people brings social acceptance and increases the social health of the individual, which, as a result, improves the quality of life of employed married women and increases their psychological security. 

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References

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Woman in Development & Politics
Volume 21, Issue 2
June 2023
Pages 517-540

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