Women's Autonomy and Fertility Ideals Among Kurdish Women In the City of Mahabad

Widespread changes in women’s roles in society, in turn, leads to their increasing participation in the social arena, therefore, by increasing women’s autonomy in different aspects of life, they are more likely to reach to higher positions and status than they were in earlier decades. This situation provides the context for changes in fertility ideals (fertility behavior, desires, and ideals) of women. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of different indices of women’s autonomy on fertility behavior, desires, and ideals of Kurdish women in the city of Mahabad. Data was collected through a survey which was conducted in April 2012 on 700 households, and then analyzed using SPSS software.Results show that women have relative autonomy in all indices related to women’s autonomy. According to this study, at the time the survey was carried out, more than 61 percent of women stated that they were content with the number of offspring they had, and had no desire for further children. Among those who wanted to continue their childbearing, nearly 70 percent stated that, in the current situation, two children were ideal for a family. Results of Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA) showed that the fertility ideals and desires of women are affected respectively, by direct and indirect indices regarding women’s autonomy. Furthermore, although women’s fertility behavior is affected by three indices of women’s autonomy, nevertheless, using contraceptive devices along with other variables, play an important role in explaining women’s fertility behavior. According to the results of this study, it is not expected that population policies aimed at encouraging fertility, would lead to a fertility increase in all social strata.