Social Capital and Single Child in Employed Women

Social Capital and Single Child in Employed Women Mojgan Firouzbakht1,2, Aram Tirgar 3*, Karimolah Hajian-Tilaki 4, Fatemeh Bakouei 5, Maryam Nikpour6 1PhD by research of Reproductive Health, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. 2Department of Nursing- Midwifery, Islamic Azad University, Babol Branch, Babol, Iran. 3Professor, Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences. 4Professor of Biostatistics, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences. 5Assistant Professor of Reproductive Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Infertility and Reproductive Health Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences 6PhD by research of Reproductive Health, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Abstract Introduction: The rapid decline in the fertility rate has placed Iran among the countries with “below replacement fertility”, which represents a single-child behavior. Social networks (as one of the components of social capital) have been considered in recent years to understand fertility behaviors and changes in the levels of fertility. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between social capital and single-child behavior in Iranian women workers. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 600 female workers were recruited by stratified sampling in health care settings in Babol, a city in northern Iran, in 2018. Data collection tools consisted of a questionnaire for demographic characteristics, fertility behavior, and social capital. Data analysis was performed by SPSS-21 software using Poisson regression and logistic regression at a significance level of 0.05. Results: In this study, 45% of women were single-child and 54.5% did not intend to be pregnant again. There was a significant relationship between the number of pregnancies and social capital (P = 0.039). Similarly, in women with low social capital, the odds of single-child behavior increased although it was not significant (95% CI: 0.899 - 2.220, OR = 1.41). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that increased social capital was associated with an increase in the number of pregnancies. Attention to social capital should be taken into account in population planning and policy-making. Keywords: Fertility; Social Capital; Single Child; Female Workers; Iran   Please cite this article as follows: Firouzbakht M, Tirgar A, Hajian- Tilaki K, Riahi M E, Bakouei F, Nikpour M. Social capital and single child in employed women. Hakim Health Sys Res. 2019; 22(3): 241-248.   *Corresponding Author: Department of Community Medicine, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. Tel: +98-9113133781, Email: [email protected]