The Relationship between Transition to Parenthood and Marital Satisfaction in Housewives and Employed Women

Background & aim: Birth of the first child is one of the major life events for every woman. This event can make extensive changes in couple’s life, which lead to the reduction of marital satisfaction or incidence of conflicts in wifehood and parenthood. Regarding this, the present study was conducted to determine the relationship between transition to parenthood and marital satisfaction among housewives and employed women. Methods: This correlational study was carried out on 120 women referring to the healthcare centers of Mashhad, Iran. The study population was selected using the three-stage cluster sampling technique. The participants were assigned into two groups of housewife and employed women based on their occupational status. The data were collected using the Transition to Parenthood Scale and ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Inventory. Data analysis was performed in SPSS (version 16) using t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, as well as Spearman and Pearson correlation tests. Results: The results showed a significant correlation between transition difficulty to parenthood and marital satisfaction among housewives and employed women (P<0.005). There was a significant difference between the housewives and employed groups regarding the transition difficulty to parenthood (P<0.05). The employed women faced more difficulty in transition to parenthood. However, no significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of marital satisfaction (P=0.26). Conclusion: As the findings indicated, the employed women had more difficulty in transition to parenthood, compared to the housewives. Thus, it is recommended to devote more facilities and social support including spouse support to provide employed women with essential education assisting their transition to parenthood