Social Development & Welfare Planning

Legal barriers to implementing population rejuvenation in the higher education system

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

masood alamineisi
mojtaba asghari

Allameh tabatabaei university

https://doi.org/10.22054/qjsd.2026.84504.2661
Abstract
In recent years, significant obstacles have emerged regarding marriage and childbearing among university students and graduates. The higher education system, from a policy and legal standpoint, bears responsibility for addressing these challenges. However, not only have these obstacles remained unresolved, but they have also been recurrent across different governmental periods. This recurrence suggests that the barriers are structural in nature, and since laws and regulations constitute a key component of any structure, it can be inferred that many of these issues originate in the legal frameworks governing higher education, rather than merely in managerial discretion or performance.

Accordingly, this study seeks to answer the question: How and through what processes do recurring barriers to childbearing in the higher education system stem from its laws and regulations? Employing a process-tracing method, the study first identifies key recurring challenges. In the second step, in-depth semi-structured interviews with higher education managers and experts were conducted to investigate the causes. In the third step, by examining relevant laws and regulations identified in the previous phase, a causal chain was mapped to illustrate how these legal instruments contribute to the creation of such barriers. The study concludes that without revising legal framework, the reproduction of childbearing barriers within the higher education system will likely continue.

Keywords

policy making
population
fertility. government
laws
higher education
Subjects
 
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-   Cavalli-Sforza, L. L., & Feldman, M. W. (1981). Cultural transmission and evolution: A quantitative approach. Princeton University Press.
-   Collier, D. (2011). Understanding process tracing. PS: Political Science & Politics, 44(4), 823–830.
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-   Kay, A., & Baker, P. (2015). What can causal process tracing offer to policy studies? A review of the literature. Policy Studies Journal, 43(1), 1–21.
-   Kellogg, E. H. (1974). Reform of laws affecting population growth: Recent developments. USAID. Retrieved from
 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNAAH298.pdf
-   May, J. F. (2012). World population policies: Their origin, evolution, and impact. Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2837-0
-   McDonald, P. (2006). Low fertility and the state: The efficacy of policy. Population and Development Review, 32(3), 485–510. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20058901
-   Mehrolhassani, M., Mirzaei, S., Poorhoseini, S., & Oroomiei, N. (2019). Finding the reasons of decrease in the rate of population growth in Iran using causal layered analysis (CLA) method. Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 33(92), Article 92. https://doi.org/10.34171/mjiri.33.92
-   Shen, K., Wang, F., & Cai, Y. (2020). Government policy and global fertility change: A reappraisal. Asian Population Studies, 16(2), 162–180.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17441730.2020.1757850
-   Togman, R. (2019). Nationalizing sex: Fertility, fear, and power. New York: Oxford University Press.
-   Wood, G., & Gough, I. (2006). A comparative welfare regime approach to global social policy. World Development, 34(10), 1696–1712.
-   Zaidi, B., & Morgan, P. (2017). The second demographic transition theory: A review and appraisal. Annual Review of Sociology, 43, 473–492.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-060116-053442.
 
-   Bellido, H., & Marcén, M. (2014). Divorce laws and fertility. Labour Economics, 27, 56–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2014.01.005
-   Cavalli-Sforza, L. L., & Feldman, M. W. (1981). Cultural transmission and evolution: A quantitative approach. Princeton University Press.
-   Collier, D. (2011). Understanding process tracing. PS: Political Science & Politics, 44(4), 823–830.
-   Diebold, L., & Soriano-Harris, J. (2023, August 18). Financial deregulation and fertility decisions: The unintended consequences of banking legislation. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4544847
-   Kay, A., & Baker, P. (2015). What can causal process tracing offer to policy studies? A review of the literature. Policy Studies Journal, 43(1), 1–21.
-   Kellogg, E. H. (1974). Reform of laws affecting population growth: Recent developments. USAID. Retrieved from
 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNAAH298.pdf
-   May, J. F. (2012). World population policies: Their origin, evolution, and impact. Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2837-0
-   McDonald, P. (2006). Low fertility and the state: The efficacy of policy. Population and Development Review, 32(3), 485–510. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20058901
-   Mehrolhassani, M., Mirzaei, S., Poorhoseini, S., & Oroomiei, N. (2019). Finding the reasons of decrease in the rate of population growth in Iran using causal layered analysis (CLA) method. Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 33(92), Article 92. https://doi.org/10.34171/mjiri.33.92
-   Shen, K., Wang, F., & Cai, Y. (2020). Government policy and global fertility change: A reappraisal. Asian Population Studies, 16(2), 162–180.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17441730.2020.1757850
-   Togman, R. (2019). Nationalizing sex: Fertility, fear, and power. New York: Oxford University Press.
-   Wood, G., & Gough, I. (2006). A comparative welfare regime approach to global social policy. World Development, 34(10), 1696–1712.
-   Zaidi, B., & Morgan, P. (2017). The second demographic transition theory: A review and appraisal. Annual Review of Sociology, 43, 473–492.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-060116-053442.

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