Women's work and health in Iran: a comparison of working and non-working mothers.
This paper analyses research on the impact of work on mothers' health in Tehran (Iran) within a role analytic framework. A survey was conducted of a representative sample of working and non-working mothers in Tehran in 1998 (N = 1065, 710 working mothers, and 355 non-working mothers). Three main explanatory factors were examined (socio-demographic, work and work-related, and social-life context variables) alongside a range of mental and physical health outcome variables. Unlike in the West, where women's paid work is generally associated with better health, statistically significant differences between working and non-working women were not found in Tehran. It is argued that this is a result of the counter-balance of the positive and negative factors associated with paid work, such as increased stress on one hand and self-esteem on the other. Iranian society's particular socio-cultural climate has contributed to this finding, with its dominant gender-role ideology; the priority and extra weight placed on women's traditional roles as wives and mothers, and the remarkably influential impact of husbands' attitudes on women's health.
Ahmad-Nia
Shirin
S
Sociology Department, Faculty of Literature & Humanities, Shlahid-Beheshti University (National University of Iran), Evin, Tehran. s_ahmadnia@hotmail.com
D000328:Adult; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006796:Household Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012649:Self Concept; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016387:Women's Health; D014931:Women, Working / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data