Page 121 - IJPS-11-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Gendered division of household labor in Iran

cultural models governing the division of labor by gender Funding
and societal attitudes and norms regarding gender roles
profoundly impact the opportunities and barriers to This study received partial funding from the National
equitable participation for both genders (Drobnič et al., Institute for Population Research in Iran for the data
2024). Consequently, gender norms have the potential collection process.
to reinforce the gendered division of labor within both Conflict of interest
micro- and macro-level structures.
The authors declare that they have no competing interests
5. Conclusion in conducting this research.

The study found that women’s participation in household Author contributions
decision-making was generally high; however, they
continue to shoulder the majority of household and Conceptualization: Rasoul Sadeghi
childcare responsibilities. Access to relative resource Formal analysis: Fateme Modiri
factors, such as education and income, plays a crucial Investigation: Ali Rahimi
role in decreasing the burden on women in terms Methodology: Fateme Modiri
of housework. Consequently, an individual’s role in Writing–original draft: All authors
household division and decision-making is influenced Writing–review & editing: Rasoul Sadeghi
by their socioeconomic status relative to their partner’s. Ethics approval and consent to participate
Higher levels of education for both men and women, along
with women’s access to financial resources, are linked This study was approved by the NIPR (#1393-145). A cover
to greater gender equality in household responsibilities page was included in the survey questionnaire to inform
and women’s decision-making authority. However, even all participants that participation in the survey is voluntary
when considering factors related to the relative resource and anonymous and that the survey data would be used for
bargaining perspective, gender disparities in household research purposes only.
labor and childcare, while diminished, still persist. This Consent for publication
implies that gender roles can actually override relative
resources, and the distribution of resources alone cannot Not applicable.
fully explain persistent gender inequalities. Thus, both
resource-based and gender-ideology factors are likely to Availability of data
influence the gendered division of household labor and The data are not publicly available.
decision-making. Therefore, it is recommended that social
policies focus on educating men, empowering women, References
changing traditional gender attitudes, and promoting Agarwal, B. (1994). A Field of One’s Own: Gender and Land
equal partnerships. Rights in South Asia. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Our study was conducted with a limited sample in the city Albert, C., & Escardíbul J.O. (2016). Education and the
of Tehran and the findings may not be applicable to the entire empowerment of women in household decision-making
country of Iran. Future research should include larger samples in Spain. International Journal of Consumer Studies,
encompassing both rural and urban areas. The data used in 41(2):158-166.
this study are from 2015, and there may have been significant https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12326
changes in the gender division of labor and decision-making Alem, Y., Hassen, S., & Kohlin G. (2023). Decision-making
within households since then. Therefore, updated data are within the Household: The role of division of labor and
needed to monitor these changes. Furthermore, a longitudinal differences in preferences. Journal of Economic Behavior and
study examining the causal relationships between the gender Organization, 207:511-528.
division of labor within the household, decision-making https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2023.01.022
authority, and other relevant factors would be highly valuable.
Altman, E.J., & Humberd, B.K. (2023). The Gendered Division of
Acknowledgments Household Labor and Emerging Technologies: The Promise
of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Vehicles, Working
The authors acknowledge the contributions made by all the Paper The Center on Regulation and Markets at Brookings.
respondents in Tehran for participating in the survey, as Avialable from: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/
well as the National Institute for Population Research in uploads/2023/07/20230918_crm_altmanhumberd_
Iran for providing partial funding. genderai1.pdf [Last accessed on 2024 Jan 19].

Volume 11 Issue 2 (2025) 115 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.3212