In recent years, Iran has grappled with an escalating challenge that revolves around the persistent issue of poverty, posing significant obstacles to economic development and social stability within the country.
Despite being a nation enriched with cultural heritage and abundant resources, the citizens’ lives are increasingly eclipsed by economic hardships.
The stark reality is that the Iranian regime appears content with the people’s deepening poverty. This circumstance effectively holds the populace captive, rendering them unable to meet even their most basic needs and stifling any potential uprising against the regime, condemning them to endure ceaseless anguish day and night.
The pervasive and relentless poverty in Iran has significantly shifted a considerable portion of the middle class into the lower echelons of society. Days and weeks pass by, yet people struggle to place even the most rudimentary food on their tables.
Fathers are immobilized by shame, unable to meet the gaze of their expectant children. They cannot afford to provide warm clothing for them.
Finding a job that can at least partially fulfill the humblest family needs seems an insurmountable task. The regime’s president Ebrahim Raisi had deceptively pledged to create one million jobs annually. However, confronted with millions of unemployed individuals, he now asserts that he has exceeded those promises.
Recently, the regime’s Statistics Center disclosed an unprecedented unemployment rate of 7.9% in the last four decades, a revelation that startled experts. Upon scrutinizing the statistics, it becomes evident that the regime’s assertions regarding job creation are spurious.
The state-run daily Toseh-e Irani highlighted, “A portion of the statistics recorded during the 13th government does not account for the generation of new productive industrial employment. Rather, it reflects the resurgence of lost jobs during the era of Coronavirus and internet censorship, which manifests today merely as numbers. The government’s acknowledgment of the rise in the number of remote workers in the past two years reveals that these are not novel and have only been identified during this administration.”
The most straightforward rebuttal to the regime’s claims is the decline in investments and, more distressingly, the outflow of billions of dollars from the country. The regime’s statistics are so scandalous that even domestic media acknowledge the severity:
“Occupations such as distributing pamphlets or engaging in similar activities provide only hourly income and lack stability. Despite their widespread presence, these jobs do not add value to the economy or contribute to increased production.”
Economic expert Vahid Shaghaghi regards the investment rate as an indicator of the credibility of such statistics. Until this criterion is met, sustainable employment remains an unattainable goal:
“We should be wary that government officials are not beguiled by the statistics and figures concerning unemployment and employment. The public holds its own perceptions of these statistics.”
Shaghaghi also attributes the nominal and insignificant rise in the official employment rate to “part-time and low-tier jobs, work involving cryptocurrencies, short-term engagements on platforms, distributing pamphlets, engaging in visits, providing rides with a parent’s vehicle, and other precarious service jobs. They might only offer pocket money to students, without generating any added value in Iran’s economy.”
Today, even workers officially employed and receiving monthly wages are engulfed by the inflationary tempest. They struggle to pay for the costs of living, let alone retirees whose primary occupation has become protesting their dire living conditions on a weekly basis.
Presently, there exists an 18.5% chasm between inflation and workers’ wages. In October, the inflation rate surged to 45.5%, while at the start of the year, workers’ wages experienced a mere 27% increase.
For an extended period, the regime’s officials have perpetuated narratives regarding wage increments supposedly in step with inflation. The situation has deteriorated to the point where they propose determining young people’s salaries based on age, pegging them at a mere 70% of their official earnings or proposing distinct wages in various regions across the country.
Source » irannewsupdate