Who is 'Bikare' and What is 'Bikaregi'?

The Deputy Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare states that seven million Iranians are 'bikare'. Hassan Taee told the IRNA news agency that these individuals neither have employment nor skills, and at the same time, they are not seeking employment. Sociologist Hossein Ghazian, residing in the United States, initially explains the meaning of 'bikare' to Radio Farda: 'To understand who a 'bikare' is, it is helpful to compare them with the unemployed. An unemployed person, by definition, is someone who is looking for work but is currently not employed. However, a 'bikare' is someone, usually referred to young people, who have completed their education but are not employed and are also not looking for a job.' According to Mr. Ghazian, statistics indicate that there are over 7 million 'bikare' in Iran. What factors have led to the emergence of this group? Is it due to deficiencies in the educational system, family issues, social welfare, or other factors? This statistic in Iran has two main reasons, as it does not only include young people. Some individuals were looking for work but gradually lost hope due to the lack of jobs and joined the group of 'bikare'. There are also those who have essentially left education but cannot find work. There are common reasons for the existence of this group. One reason is the structural demographic issue for unemployment in Iran in general. As demographers say, we are in a so-called golden window period of population, meaning a time when seventy percent of the population is in employment positions, which is the best opportunity for economic development. This group has emerged from the population increase wave of the 1980s and has now entered the labor market, and if jobs are not provided for them, we are structurally facing a major unemployment factor. That is, there are many job seekers but not enough job opportunities. There is also an economic reason for this issue. The first is the lack of investment in the past seven to eight years. The level of investment relative to gross national product has decreased. When investment decreases, jobs are not created. Therefore, on one hand, jobs are not created, and on the other hand, the demand for work is high. Another economic factor that has added to this issue is the recession, which causes existing jobs to also become inaccessible. For instance, in 2011, we lost about 800,000 job opportunities. This means that not investing leads to no job creation, and recession causes existing jobs to also become inaccessible. On the other hand, due to the population increase of the 1980s, a large workforce is entering the labor market. These factors combined lead to fewer job opportunities and the overall emergence of unemployment, which after a while turns into 'bikaregi'. Additionally, there is the educational system. Our educational system does not prepare individuals in accordance with the labor market. This system has essentially delayed the occurrence of unemployment. Education has not been created to acquire skills for future job opportunities but has aimed to postpone the unemployment crisis and transfer it a few years after education. However, with the rising costs of this education, this group of people who were unemployed or in training gradually turned into 'bikare', meaning those who are not looking for work and are not receiving education. What solutions can be proposed to reduce these statistics? There are various ways to address this issue. One method was tested during Ahmadinejad's presidency, which was to manipulate the statistics. You know that before Ahmadinejad's term, those who worked two days a week were considered employed. However, during that period, those who worked even one hour a week were considered employed. Thus, the unemployment statistics decreased. Therefore, one way is to manipulate the statistics and deceive oneself or the public. The other and real way is to eliminate the factors that have caused recession and unemployment, part of which relates to the economic system. That is, increasing investment relative to gross national product, which if it starts, is a long-term task. In the long and medium term, it will yield results as those investments turn into job opportunities. Another factor is exiting the economic recession, which causes jobs to become inaccessible. This requires economic improvement and growth. Part of this work also relates to deregulation for starting new businesses. You know that in Iran, on average, it takes more than 200 days to start a business, while in some countries, this time is three or four days. Thus, deregulation may also help create new job opportunities. The educational system must also be reformed entirely and move towards jobs that have opportunities in the market. In addition, a change in attitude towards jobs is necessary. Essentially, today there are jobs in society that Iranians are unwilling to do because they feel these jobs are low-level. For this reason, we are facing the employment of over one million Afghans in jobs that Iranians are unwilling to do, either due to the high wages they receive or the disobedience they have, and the level of exploitation that Afghan workers endure in Iran may not apply to them, thus they exit the labor market. If all these factors change, it may lead to a reduction in these issues.