Predictors of Permanent Childlessness in Iranian Women (Using the 2016 National Census Microdata Sample)

Dramatic changes in the demographic behaviors of Iranian women have led to declining fertility after the mid-1980s. Childlessness is an important and growing issue and has increasingly become the focus of the problem by Iranian population policymakers.
The present study was conducted using the quantitative secondary data analysis method. Using the census microdata of population and housing in 2016, the researchers attempted to investigate the level and predictors of childlessness among married women aged 40–49. The data of 85799 married women aged 40–49 was analyzed.
About 4% of the sample were childless. Logistic regression analysis indicated that the probability of childlessness for married women with university degrees, immigrant women, and employed women is higher than their counterparts. Furthermore, the findings suggested that women who live in apartments and those who live in private houses are less likely childless than their counterparts. Bigger houses lower the probability of being childless.
Government planning and policymaking to reducethe proportion of childlessness should improve household circumstances, especially their housing.