Only 10 Percent of Working-Age Women in Iran Are Employed

Governmental and non-governmental organizations in Iran publish a wealth of public data at all levels (urban, provincial, and national). However, in many cases, this data is not easily accessible. Open data is data that "everyone can access, use, and share." A website called "Iran Open Database" has gathered governmental and non-governmental data in one place and provides it in more accessible formats. An examination of some statistics on this site shows that currently, only 10 percent of working-age women in Iran are employed. One notable point in the official statistics about the labor market is the relatively high "employment rate" and consequently the relatively low "unemployment rate." The employment rate is reported to be high while officials and various experts admit that widespread unemployment is one of the main problems of today's Iranian economy. For example, a labor market expert told the Fars News Agency that only 27 percent of the population is employed, and for every employed person, there are 2.5 unemployed individuals. In an official expression of concern, the First Vice President emphasized that "the most important issue in the country today is undoubtedly unemployment and employment." The question arises as to why, despite this, the "unemployment rate" and "employment rate" do not reflect these concerns. The "employment rate" refers to the ratio of the employed population to the economically active population; and the economically active population, according to the definition of the Statistical Center, includes individuals aged 10 and older who had a job or were capable of participating in economic activities in the week prior to the survey (reference week). In calculating labor market indicators in Iran, the economically active population includes a small number (ratio) of the working-age population, such that in the year 1394 in the Persian calendar, only 38 percent of working-age individuals were counted as part of the economically active population. Most calculations are made regarding this 38 percent; in simpler terms, only those individuals who are part of this 38 percent (active population) and are unemployed are considered unemployed. As a result, the status of other unemployed individuals, namely the 62 percent who are of working age but do not work, is not reflected in the unemployment rate; because statistically, they are not considered economically active. For this reason, the employment rate increases, as the employment rate is the result of dividing the number of employed persons by the active population, not by the population of working age. Although the statistics related to the "employment rate" and "unemployment rate" do not accurately represent the situation of Iran's labor force, this weakness can be somewhat compensated by examining the "employment ratio" statistics, which is another indicator for measuring the labor market. Unlike the "employment rate," the "employment ratio" is derived from dividing the number of employed persons by the (total) working-age population, and therefore reflects the unemployment situation for all citizens who have reached working age, irrespective of the active and inactive population. Thus, if the two indicators, "employment rate" and "employment ratio," are compared, the critical state of the labor market in Iran becomes more apparent. The working-age population in the year 1394 was reported to be over 64 million, of which only 24 million were considered active population according to the Statistical Center's report. According to the information in the "Labor Force Survey Results - 1394" published by the Statistical Center of Iran, the country's employment rate in that year was 89 percent, but according to the same report, the employment ratio was 34 percent. Since many individuals in the working-age population are not counted in the active population, the "employment rate" is reported to be high and close to 90 percent. However, since the "employment ratio" reflects the situation of the entire working-age population, its value significantly drops compared to the "employment rate," and for the year 1394, it becomes 34 percent. Now, if we examine the employment ratio by gender, it reveals another aspect of the inequality of women's conditions and shows that the labor market situation for women is much worse than for men. Comparing the conditions of unemployment rate, employment rate, and employment ratio for men and women shows that according to the "Labor Force Survey Results - 1394," the employment rate for men was 90.7 percent and their unemployment rate was 9.3 percent, but during the same period and according to the same report, the employment ratio for men was 57.3 percent. As shown in the accompanying chart, during this period, for women, the employment rate was reported at 80.6 percent and the unemployment rate at 19.4 percent, with the employment ratio for women at 10.7 percent. Therefore, in the year 1394, the employment rate for women was about 10 percent lower than that of men, and the unemployment rate for women was twice that of men. However, what makes the reality of labor market inequality more apparent to the detriment of women is the employment ratio. This indicator was at a low level of 10.7 percent for women in 1394, which is more than 46 percent lower than the employment ratio for men. In other words, only 10.7 percent of working-age women in Iran have jobs, and nearly 90 percent of working-age women are unemployed. This indicator reflects the weak presence of women in the country's economic space and confirms the male-dominated nature of Iran's labor market.