The growth trend of never-married elderly population in Iran in the third millennium

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Statistics show that the age of the Iranian population is advancing, and the marriage age is increasing as well. Clearly, an increase in the number of never-married older adults is expected. The aim of this descriptive, analytical study was to determine the growth trend of never-married older population and its association with education level in Iran. METHODS: Based on the raw data collected from the Statistical Center of Iran, we studied the population of never-married older adults in the past 25 years and evaluated the growth pattern in different parts of Iran, using ArcGIS software. We also examined the association of singlehood in late life with education in men and women residing in rural and urban areas, using the Chi-square test in SPSS version 22. RESULTS: < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The rate of increase in the population of never-married older women was much higher than the overall growth of older population. Women with formal education, particularly those with university and pre-university degrees, were more likely to be single in late life. It is strongly suggested to determine the causes and process of singlehood in old age in future research, including qualitative studies.