Individual Consequences of Having Work and Family Roles Simultaneously in Iranian Married Women Publisher Pubmed



Taghizadeh Z¹ ; Ebadi A² ; Mohammadi E³ ; Pourreza A⁴ ; Kazemnejad A⁵ ; Bagherzadeh R¹
Source: Women and Health Published:2017

Abstract

Because of the paucity of studies about the consequences of women’s work and family responsibilities in Iran, in the present study the authors used a qualitative approach to begin to provide in-depth answers to the following question: What are the consequences of having work and family responsibilities in Iranian married women? Data were obtained from 29 participants using individual in-depth interviews conducted with 17 participants in addition to two focus groups (n = 6 per group), all conducted in the second half of 2014. All of the participants were Iranian nationals, married, and held a full-time job outside the home. Five main themes were derived from the study: “promotion of self-esteem and social status,” “facing difficulties,” “effort and dedication,” “unfulfilled needs and non-optimal health,” and “restless mind.” Participants reported achieving a number of advantages for themselves and their families as a result of working outside the home; but, they also had many problems with the potential to impair various health aspects, including physical, reproductive, and mental health. Thus, it is important for Iranian health-care providers to consider the effect of the work–family interference on women. © 2017 Taylor & Francis.