Increase in Divorce Rates and Decrease in Marriage and Childbearing; Ansieh Khazali: It's Not an Economic Problem, It's Women's Materialism

The newspaper "Etemad" reported on the birth, marriage, and divorce rates from 2008 to the end of autumn 2022, indicating a decline in marriage and birth rates while divorce rates have increased. Simultaneously, Ansieh Khazali, the Deputy for Women's Affairs under Ebrahim Raisi, stated that less than 30% of the reasons for "lack of childbearing" are economic, with the rest attributed to cultural issues. According to Etemad, over the 14-year period, despite judicial restrictions on consensual divorce and efforts by relevant institutions to encourage couples to reconcile and withdraw from divorce, the "divorce rate" has shown an upward trend. Concurrently, marriage and birth statistics have decreased despite the distribution of financial and non-financial incentives. The newspaper's analysis of factors related to Iranian citizens' outlook on their future and their children's future, the misery index, unemployment and inflation rates, and the performance and economic decisions of governments indicate that "declining social capital" and "economic factors" significantly contribute to the increase in divorce rates and the decrease in marriage and childbearing from 2008 to the end of autumn 2022. However, on May 10, Ansieh Khazali mentioned in a meeting with women and family activists in Khorasan Razavi that "in a survey conducted regarding childbearing, less than 30% of the reasons for not having children were economic; most were cultural, related to attitudes towards life, expectations from life, and personal considerations." She claimed that "due to reduced materialism during the pandemic, the marriage rate increased," adding: "According to the Supreme Leader, over 70% of materialism pertains to women, so we must seriously engage in the jihad against extravagance and abandon wrong traditions and campaigns such as dowries and viewing." The necessity of childbearing has been one of the emphases of the Supreme Leader in recent years. He has repeatedly urged the people and officials to increase Iran's population to 150 million. Reports and warnings indicate that the alarm for an aging explosion in Iran has sounded, and experts attribute the reasons for young couples' avoidance of childbearing and marriage to governance methods and various economic and social issues in the country. Worrisome reports about the demographic future; the tragedy of governance and the uprising of aging; the judiciary's groundwork for dealing with "abortion"; imprisonment for doctors, payment of "diya" for mothers occurs with a new directive from the Ministry of Science; removal of educational content opposing childbearing; consequences of implementing the "Youth Population" law; sending over 100 cases of "illegal abortion" to judicial authorities; alarming statistics on abortion in Iran; Raisi called for action against offenders.