The state-run newspaper Shargh reported that young people from Iran’s middle class are suffering from chronic anxiety caused by economic concerns about their future.
On Saturday, September 13, Shargh published a report titled “Fall into the Field of Poverty,” stating that despite earning monthly salaries between 20 million and 30 million tomans (200 to 300 dollars), these young people can no longer afford routine purchases they used to make in previous years.
According to the report, many young people no longer have money for small leisure activities such as going to restaurants, attending gyms, or buying routine skincare products.
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A young woman, noting in her interview with Shargh that her income had risen from 5 million tomans to 30 million tomans over the past four years, said: “Clearly, I am struggling to make ends meet each month. My friends are in the same situation. Our only entertainment now is to meet at each other’s houses a few times a month, and we have completely given up going to cafes and restaurants.”
Eliminating some goods from the shopping basket
A young couple, both employed, told Shargh that they had cut their monthly purchases from chain stores, adding that they could no longer even afford a certain type of coffee they used to buy every month.
Another young woman working in the human resources department of a well-known dairy company told the newspaper: “I haven’t signed up for any classes, nor do I go out with my friends like I did last year, yet life has become harder.”
She added: “What bothers me more than financial pressure is the fear of running out of money at the end of the month. That’s why I watch my spending from the beginning of the month, so I don’t end up broke.”
Multiple reports on the rise of poverty in Iran
In recent years, various media outlets and institutions have published multiple reports on the rise of poverty in Iran.
In June 2023, the Research Center of Iran’s regime parliament confirmed in a report the “increase and deepening” of poverty in the past decade, stating that about one-third of the population has been living below the “absolute poverty line” in the past five years.
According to the report’s data, over the past decade, the number of poor people in Iran has increased by about 11 million.
Hopelessness among the educated class has also been on the rise, with growing concerns about the migration of students and academics.
Meanwhile, Massoud Pezeshkian, the president of Iran’s regime, in response to this crisis, has pointed the finger at the educated class and, using gendered language, accused them of “cowardice.”
On June 10, Bahram Salavati, a researcher and former director of the Iranian Migration Observatory, announced that only 1% of Iranian students who migrate abroad return to the country.
In March, Mohammad Jalili, head of the faculty recruitment center at the Ministry of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education, also warned that the exodus of faculty members has reached Iran’s top universities.
