Investigating the Factors Related to the Willingness and Unwillingness to Childbearing after the Adoption of the Youth Population Law:A Systematic Review

Childbearing is the most important demographic component and one of the most important social and cultural issues. Various economic, social, and cultural factors play a role in childbearing. The decrease in the number of children causes an impact on the growth rate of the population, the composition and structure of the population, a decrease in the active and young people of the society, and an increase in the aging population, threatening economic growth and social development. Considering the decrease in childbearing during the last two decades and because of being affected by various factors, a deep understanding of these factors helps planners, policymakers, and reproductive health consultants to make appropriate recommendations and methods to empower couples and help create the right attitude in childbearing through correct and principled education. The present study was conducted to investigate the factors related to the willingness and unwillingness to childbearing, and it is hoped that the results of this study will be an important step in identifying and removing obstacles to childbearing and increasing the population.

In this study, four databases, including SID, Magiran, and Google Scholar, were reviewed using the keywords willingness, unwillingness, childbearing, and Iran, and also factors related to the willingness and unwillingness to have children. Studies were selected that were in the Persian language. The Newcastle-Ottawa tool was used to evaluate the quality of the articles.

The evaluation of the reviewed studies showed that cultural, economic, social and environmental, religious, psychological and physical, demographic, judicial-legal, health, organizational facilities, and job conditions are important factors in the willingness and unwillingness to childbearing.

The current systematic review showed the effect of social, environmental, and economic factors on the willingness and unwillingness to childbearing in most studies. Among the social and environmental factors, social support of the government and acquaintances had the greatest effect on the willingness and unwillingness to childbearing, and among the economic factors, the economic status and income of individuals showed the greatest impact on the willingness and unwillingness to childbearing. Accordingly, one should pay attention to all the mentioned factors in planning, and it is not possible to influence the challenge of childbearing in Iran by emphasizing only one of them, which confirms that any planning by the authorities in the field of childbearing in Iran should be based on a comprehensive plan and pay attention to the role of all influential factors, and according to the special characteristics of the Iranian society, a strategic plan should be implemented to guide the fertility and childbearing behaviors of Iranians.