Real bad news for the mullahs in Iran:
Few jobs in the countryside, few jobs in the cities, few jobs for university grads. A truly lamentable state of affairs for the Islamic Revolution - after 20 + years. "Islam is the solution?" --- NOT!!!!!!!
Unemployment Rate on the Rise
iran-daneshjoo.org
The Tehran Times
November 2, 2002
The number of unemployed individuals seeking employment at job centers rose by 87.79% in the first ten months of 2001 -- the last period for which data are available -- compared to the same period the previous year.
In the first ten months of 2001, of the 685,137 individuals seeking employment at job centers, 67.8% were men and 32.2% women; which shows an 82.2 percent rise for men and a 98 percent rise for women compared to the previous year.
Currently, the most significant issue of concern that worries university students is the issue of employment and their future. These young people face numerous problems in their post-university years.
Economist Mahdi Taqvaei says that with the unemployment rate at 16.2%, government plans do not seem successful, adding that what is needed is an appropriate economic blueprint to pave the ground for investment in our economic system. He said that otherwise, we will witness further rising unemployment. He added that the current unemployment problem is a result of the inappropriate policies of the government during the early years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, when led to many villagers migrating to large cities. Dr. Taqavaei said that the economic system must provide more job opportunities to reduce unemployment.
Nowadays, many villagers migrate to cities because there are no jobs are to be found in rural areas.
However, they cannot find good jobs in the cities either, so instead they turn to low-paying jobs.
Another economist, Dr. Bahman Arman, also considers the chief obstacles in the way of foreign investment the inappropriate policies of the Central Bank, and negligence of economic development as factors leading to economic underdevelopment in Iran. In fact, investment in the mines and industrial sectors has decreased by Rls.730 per capita. He noted that economic development is not considered a principle in Iran, therefore new investments have rapidly decreased. He also referred to the agriculture sector, noting that the share of agricultural sector in providing job opportunities is less than other countries, but "if we could provide sufficient irrigation networks, we could drastically improve the rate of employment in this sector."
Dr. Abhari, a specialist in behavioral sciences, says that the problem of unemployment is not a minor issue. Unemployment, divorce, depression, migration, addiction and crime are all interconnected, and the root of all these problems is unemployment.
According to statistics, about 20% of Iranian university graduates are unemployed. Even many of the workers in offices are underemployed (latent or invisible unemployment). He noted that the national unemployment rate is 16%, while the rate of unemployment among university graduates is 20%, which depresses and disappoints the graduates.
Meanwhile, production and investment by the private sector is highly important in decreasing the unemployment rate as well. The government cannot struggle against the social problems on its own. The private sector and non-governmental organizations should also help.
Source: The Tehran Times |
