Economic expert and professor at Tehran’s Al-Zahra University Hossein Raghfar, warned about the high unemployment rate among the youth and its economic and social consequences, noting that “youth joblessness in Iran is twice the country’s average unemployment rate.”
While the average unemployment rate is 10.5 percent, the figure for youth aged between 15 and 29 years stands at 21.8%,” sedayeeghtesad.ir quoted him as saying.
He cited “mental disorders, depression and increased social unrest and strikes” as some of the side effects of youth unemployment, adding: “In some cases, deep frustration among the youth leads to drug addiction which further poses a serious problem to both the individual and society.”
The national population growth rate will slow down due to delay in marriages caused by youth unemployment. Moreover, “unemployment in married couples increases the likelihood of marital breakdown, leading to higher divorce rates.”
Unemployment is also responsible for a growing sense of inequality and discrimination in the society leading to a “social crisis,” he observed.
Therefore, tackling joblessness and improving the domestic business environment should be at the core of the government’s agenda. The community’s full potential should be utilized and efforts made to make more funds available to the productive sectors to generate more jobs,” he added.
