The expression of Iranian family is viewed more from its descriptive aspect than from an analytical one. Iranian families have historically been more religious and have been organized with regards to religious interpretations coming from Zoroastrianism and Islam practitionres. In such families, marriage and reproduction are of a significant value. Parents along with their children are established in a network of kinship relations and most issues are organized through this network. Throughout the past decades and even before that, families had undergone major changes. Rising of divorce rate; reduction in marriage rate; freedoms given to women and their increased participation in social and political fields; changes in attitudes on gender issues, focusing on love and emotions as being a primary criterion in selecting a spouse along with support from the family and changes that have occurred among the new generation are some of the main examples. On the other hand a simultaneous presence of these generations, in a single family, has prepared the grounds for integration within a family and its simpler relationships with the social environment. However, Iranian families encounter major challenges related to women, children from the new generation and modernization, whose changes had been introduced through public media and education.
