Page 22 - IRANRptNov20

Pandemic ‘could leave up to quarter of Iran’s workforce jobless’
Iran sets aside $305mn for unemployed workers hit by COVID-19 turmoil
well”, with some estimates showing a 70% drop in the TFR in the past three decades. Both the strain of economic decline brought about by waves of sanctions—the latest being the crushing measures brought in by the US Trump administration since 2018—and emigration have also played big roles in pushing down the number of babies being born in Iran, a country of 84mn.
Gilan Province registered the lowest TFR at 1.1.
At the other end of the scale, impoverished Sistan and Baluchestan Province, largely populated by Iran’s Sunni minority and bordering Pakistan, saw the highest TFR at 3.4. However, that compares to 3.7 in the year to March 2018. Efforts by the Iranian government to turn the tide on the TRF decline have included in 2016 the supreme leader’s office promoting the merits of multiple offspring in poster campaigns in Tehran and other cities. But that particular effort met with a lot of ridicule from those suffering from a tanking economy and unrealistic property prices.
With the decline in new births, Iran is hurtling towards having an aged society faster than official estimates have up to now predicted.
As many as 6.43mn Iranians, making up around a quarter of the workforce of Iran, could find themselves jobless because of the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a study by Iran’s Parliament Research Centre.
A minimum of 2.87mn jobs would be lost amid the health and economic emergency, the study also concluded. Given the added difficulties caused to US-sanctions-hit Iran by the virus outbreak, its economy would shrink between 7.5% and 11%, it also said.
The Iranian government has set aside Iranian rial (IRR) 50 trillion ($305mn at the free market rate, $1.2bn at the government rate) for unemployed workers in the wake of the mass layoffs that have occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, IRNA reported on April 7.
Thousands of casual workers have been laid off in Iran in recent weeks. Annual bonuses have also been scrapped given the crippling financial situation in the country caused by its coronavirus outbreak, the worst in the Middle East.
The announcement of the unemployment benefit comes after significant domestic pressure was put on the Rouhani administration for its handling of the pandemic’s impact on the country.
To prevent the spread of the virus, applicants are urged to fill out online forms for unemployment benefits at a newly-designated website, bimebikari.mcls.gov.ir, within 30 days, rather than turning up at an office of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare.
Those classed as sole traders and others with full worker insurance are not eligible for the scheme.
The exact amount of the payment per individual is not known yet, but it is likely to only be awarded to those in the lowest income brackets including factory, retail and delivery workers, to name but a few.
The funding for the unemployment benefit is likely to derive from the country’s
22​ IRAN Country Report November 2020 www.intellinews.com