The number of women householders in Iran increased by 86.6% over the decade ending March 2016 to stand at over three million.
This category includes households headed by women in the absence of their spouse. They may be widowed, divorced, separated, or never married.
The ratio of women householders to the total number of householders stood at 9.5% in the fiscal 2006-7, 12.1% in 2011-12 and 12.7% in March 2016-17).
In 2016-17, the proportion of single-women householders (women living alone) to the total number of women householders stood at 44.4%, up from 36% in 2006-7, according to a report by the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare.
Of the total number of households headed by women, 44.4% consisted of a single member, 27.2% had two, 17% three and 11.6% had four or more members in 2016-17.
Single-women householders (women living alone) constituted 40.8% of the number of households headed by women in 2011-12, suggesting that more women have chosen to live alone.
The report also showed women living alone (single-women householders) outnumbered men living alone (single-men householders) over the decade. A total of 66.4% of the number of single-person households were women in 2016-17, about 68.7% in 2011-12 and 65.5% in 2006-7.
The proportion of women householders to the total number of households was the highest in Sistan-Baluchestan (18.1%) in 2016-17. It was followed by Tehran (13.8%) and Semnan (13.7%).
Women-headed households made up 10.8% of the total number of households in Qazvin, Zanjan and Ardabil–the lowest among all Iranian provinces.
Perhaps surprisingly, Tehran Province, wherein lies the capital city, was not the province where most single-women householders lived during the final year under review.
The provinces of South Khorasan (57.5%), Yazd (55.7%) and Semnan (54.3%) registered the highest percentage of single-women householders to the total number of households headed by women, whereas Bushehr (34.6%) and Hormozgan (36.8%) ranked the lowest in terms of women living alone.
In Tehran, single-women householders account for 44.7% of the total number of women householders.
Of the 3.04 million women householders, 75% lived in urban areas and 25% in rural areas in 2016-17.
In Tehran, Qom and Alborz, 96.2%, 94.4% and 93.5% of women-headed households lived in cities respectively, while about 59.2% of women householders in Sistan-Baluchestan, 50.8% in Hormozgan and 50.3% in Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad Province lived in rural areas in 2016-17.
The unemployment rate among women householders was 7.9%, with the highest rates in Yazd (17.7%) and Bushehr (14.3%) and the lowest in Ilam (2.2%) and Lorestan (2.7%).
The economic participation rate of women householders stood at 15.9% in 2016-17. Sistan-Baluchestan and Alborz registered the highest rate of economic participation among women householders while Lorestan and Kermanshah had the lowest rate.
