The consequence of inflation in Iran: Absolute poverty for female heads of households
The Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare says that billions of Tomans of credit have been allocated to alleviate the absolute poverty of single-headed households, especially women-headed households, but inflation, sometimes up to 70 percent, is making these resources ineffective.
Mohammad Shariatmadari, Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, discussed the situation of female heads of households, the disabled, workers and child laborers in a meeting with members of the parliamentary women's faction, and reported statistics that are not encouraging. ISNA news agency quoted him as saying in a report on the matter: "The necessary funds to eliminate absolute poverty have increased from 7,000 billion to 8,400 billion with the efforts of representatives," but rising inflation sometimes consumes up to 70 percent of a large part of the allocated financial resources.
He also said that if an organization is not created to support female heads of households, this “trend will remain stagnant.” Before the Sixth Development Plan, there were not even accurate statistics on the situation of female heads of households in Iran. Now, with the cooperation of the Women’s Faction with the Ministry of Labor, it seems that statistics have been obtained, albeit not very accurate ones.
This figure includes 3.2 million people. According to the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, currently only one council, headed by Masoumeh Ebtekar, is operating in the field of female heads of households, which has six committees, and this does not meet the needs of such a population.
The increasing number of people falling below absolute poverty
According to Mohammad Shariatmadari, 245,000 needy households are currently covered by this ministry, which represents a 15 percent growth in this population in the first three months of 2018. Meanwhile, the situation of the disabled is also deplorable. According to the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, “12 trillion tomans were foreseen in the initial estimates for the implementation of this law,” but in practice, less than one trillion tomans has been allocated for it in the budget, and “therefore, appropriate action cannot be taken in this regard.”
According to the report, 1,300 groups are currently working in Iran to identify and address the situation of female heads of households, 7,000 of whom are female heads of households themselves. However, only 770,000 of these women have been identified, and according to Shariatmadari, “this number is not real and steps must be taken to complete this database.”
59,500 young people are active in self-help groups in this field, and according to Mohammad Shariatmadari, "93 percent of them are women, and 22 billion and 100 million Tomans have been provided through public sources to finance the implementation of the empowerment plan in this sector." He also referred to the number of female managers in his ministry and said: "The number of female managers at the senior level in the 12th government has increased from 2 to 7, at the middle management level from 211 to 275, and at the basic level from 689 to 924." This statistic comes at a time when the Rouhani government still lacks the presence of even a single female minister.
The report by the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare on the insufficiency of funds needed to eliminate absolute poverty among female-headed households and single-headed households comes a day after another report on the housing situation in Iran, which indicates a staggering increase in housing prices this spring compared to last spring by 109.6 percent.
In this regard, Ahmad Tavakoli, head of the non-governmental organization "Justice and Transparency Watch," wrote in an open letter to the heads of the three branches of government, the Guardian Council, and the Expediency Discernment Council about "the sound of the breaking bones of tenants and the cries of the poor," and spoke of "very painful and alarming observations" that urgently require action.
The official media in Iran is full of news about the “implementation of the Women’s Economic Empowerment Plan” in Ardabil, Mashhad in “23 provinces of Iran” or the creation of a “Sympathy Bazaar in Mashhad” that will create “direct and indirect job opportunities for 45 people.” Small news in the turmoil of the great waves of poverty and unemployment, especially among women, and financial resources that are being evaporated by rising inflation and are not reaching anywhere to meet the basic needs of millions of people; in a country where millions of people have lost their lives due to earthquakes and floods.
Source: DW
