Twelve Million Singles in Iran; Rising Marriage Age and Ineffectiveness of Population Growth Policies

The Iranian Ministry of Sports and Youth announced that there are 12 million singles who have not married. Mehdi Motaghi Far, the deputy of this ministry, also stated that many issues related to youth marriage remain unresolved, despite Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, repeatedly emphasizing the necessity of youth marriage. Motaghi Far further mentioned that the establishment of committees such as the Easy Marriage Committee and measures like increasing marriage loans have been ineffective. The newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad reported that the decline in marriage and birth rates in Iran is a consequence of unprecedented inflation in housing and food, as well as lifestyle changes and the prevalence of single living. Economic difficulties and the increasing hardship of living in Iran have hindered the formation of joint lives and childbearing. Nevertheless, policymakers continue to enact new laws to increase birth rates without considering the main factors and drivers of this issue. In one of the latest cases, the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council announced that being married and having children would be an advantage for membership in the faculty of Iranian universities. Additionally, the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic announced in a circular that men who have not completed mandatory military service will also be eligible for marriage and childbearing loans. These policies intensified after Ali Khamenei spoke in November 2013 about the necessity of increasing Iran's population to 150 million. Officials have employed various methods, such as changing the content of textbooks, media, and installing advertising billboards in cities, or approving banking facilities to promote childbearing. The consequences of housing inflation; decrease in 'marriage', drop in birth rates. The conditions within the marriage contract have returned to the electronic marriage document.