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Iran's Mounting Malaise

(Yale Global) Jamsheed K. Choks - Iranians must struggle with restrictions on what they wear, hear, say and with who they interact. Yet more than 30% of Iranians have access to satellite television and 61% to the Internet, circumventing government constraints on communications with the rest of the world. Thus Iranians are well aware that living standards are much higher in the Gulf countries to their south. They see European and North American nations providing not only a comfortable life but sociopolitical liberties as well. Iran's fertility rate has plummeted and is 1.64 births per woman. Tehran responded in August 2012 by scrapping family-planning programs and diverting those funds to encourage larger families, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling upon women to have more children. In 2011, 35% of Iranian students were reported to have dropped out from school, with many assuming there's little career value to be gained from an ideologically-driven educational system. An estimated 60% of Iranian workers have slipped below the poverty line, up 40% from a decade ago; unemployment has risen to 24% overall and to 67% among women. Inflation rose 200% between 2009 and 2012. Housing costs were up 220% over the past eight years. Food prices have spiked 57% over the past year. The writer is professor of Iranian Studies at Indiana University.
2013-08-09 00:00:00
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