The state-run Mehr news agency issued a report on Iran’s economic status and women’s deteriorating rights.
“Results of an analysis show that in the next 6 years not only will there be no decrease in the number of unemployed, in fact the job market will be engulfed in a crisis and we will have 5 million unemployed people,” the report reads in part.
It is noteworthy that around half of this population are unemployed college graduates, with an unemployment rate twice that of the general public, and unemployment amongst female graduates is far higher than their male counterparts.
Job market expert Hamid Haj Ismaeel said in an interview with the state-run Mehr news agency, “Currently there is no adequate coordination between the country’s economic officials. Right now women make up over 50% of the country’s population, and during the past few years, job demands among women have increased ten-fold. Women seeking to enter the work-force have increased significantly thanks to their higher education, a will to get involved in the economy and simply being a member of the society. However, a part of the economy in Iran has unofficially turned into brokering and mediation, and these people are considered among the country’s employed population. One can say that the number of people currently unemployed is actually twice the numbers presented by Iran’s Census Center,” he said. (State-run Meh news agency – September 27, 2015)
