One key dimension of fertility changes during the century is the change in the proportion childless [1] in the most countries of the world, so that some studies [2-4] have mentioned that the prevalence of childlessness has increased enormously in many of countries. Childlessness is governed both by attitudes as well as demographic determinants. Although individuals with certain socioeconomic characteristics may prefer to remain childless, their reasons for such a behavior goes beyond basic individual demographic variables [5] and we argue that it occurs due to interplay between factors associated with household and individual socioeconomic correlates. Attitudes towards childlessness have varied both between cultures and over time. Women who purposely remained childless were commonly viewed as selfish and socially irresponsible [6]. Generally, childlessness can be considered as a result of infertility, voluntary childlessness, circumstantial childlessness or delayed childbearing also known as temporary childlessness [7]. An important issue in defining childlessness is that many people’s perceptions of childlessness as choice or circumstance is complex, subjective and multidimensional [8]. Briefly, there are two major theoretical categories for explanation of the causes of fertility change. The first one is generally known as demographic transition theory which emphasizes the structural or socioeconomic conditions. Meanwhile, an alternative perspective is ideational theory which emphasizes the cultural variables. Based on the above theory and empirical evidence, a socioeconomic theory of fertility is best framed in terms of both structural and individual factors [9]. Educational attainment of women has significant effect on childlessness [1, 6, 10]. A study in Moscow indicated that childlessness intentions are prevalent among well-educated individuals [7]. Higher educational attainment is associated with a greater acceptance of childlessness among European women [11-13]. Hayford (2013) is showed that the rising proportion of women with a college degree explain a substantial amount of the increase in childless women in the United States [14]. A study in Australian context [15] suggested that women with tertiary education and those women who working in prestigious occupations have the highest rates of childlessness. Gobbi (2011) in his study showed that shocks in the labor market that increase the labor opportunity of mothers can be at the origin of the fluctuations both in childlessness and in average fertility in the United States [16]. A research in Italy [17] found out that the great recession had a negative effect on childlessness aw sell as educated women have slightly postponed first births during the crisis. Kneale & Joshi, (2008) in their study estimated that about a quarter of 1970 born graduate British women will remain childless and founded out that most striking postponement of childbearing occurring among graduate men and women [18]. Another study in United States [19] indicated that 2.5 percent of women were childless because of poverty and 8.1 percent because of high opportunity cost of childrearing. Based on previous studies [20-22] Special attention is paid to education, place of residence, employment status and geographic mobility as factors correlated to childlessness. There is no evident relation between women’s employment status and childlessness in Spain [23]. The result of a study [24] showed that with age, childlessness decreases markedly. Similar results were obtained in a Canadian context [25]. Pals and Waren (2013) have showed that for U.S. women, the main motivation for choosing childlessness has been higher education and economic independence [26].
Women’s fertility behavior in Iran has been the focus of considerable demographic attention in recent decades. Significant changes in the demographic behaviors of Iranian women have led to declining fertility and increasing childlessness. The changing fertility rate and some of the reasons for this change have been widely discussed in the demographic literature on Iran. Studies on Iranian women’s fertility are pointed out that fertility is declined after mid-1985s [27-33]. Therefore, the supreme leader of Iran outlined general population policies with emphasis on childbearing and achieving fertility higher than replacement level in 2014. Although the fertility model transformation has gained ample attention in Iranian demographic studies, the phenomenon of childlessness has been largely ignored. For these reasons alone the continued investigation in Iran of fertility trends and its various parity outcomes is warranted. In this study we focus on Iran, a country where childlessness is a recent phenomenon, but also characterized by remarkable fertility decline, and severely hit by the economic downturn due to the types of sanctions over recent decade. Despite decline in the Iranian women’s fertility, the cultural expectation to bear children has remained strong in Iranian society and motherhood is central to feminine identity. On the other words, the norms and social pressure continue to support childbearing and in opposite childlessness is not a cultural acceptable behavior. Childlessness among Iranian women has not been studied using variables related to household circumstances. Generally, research on childlessness and its determinants is relatively scant in Iran. In this paper, we assess the prevalence and predictors of childlessness among married women aged 40-49.