Official figures show that one-child families are becoming more common in Iran, said Mohammad Eslami, head of the Family Health Department at the Health Ministry. “Between 25-30% of Iranian families have only one child, and this trend needs to be addressed” in the context of the national population policy which seeks to reverse the declining growth rates of the past decade, he said on Tuesday on the sidelines of a program on reproductive health in Mashhad, IRNA reported. Noting that the phenomenon is seen more among families with highly educated or well-to-do parents, he said adopting a culture of encouraging childbearing and birth is essential to prevent the large graying population among the coming generations.
