Young Iranians can’t afford to marry

Shahrzadnews: According to the Fararo news website, the high cost of living and spiralling inflation are to blame for both young Iranians’ lack of interest in marriage and the ever-increasing divorce rate. In an interview with the site, sociologist Dr. Hussein Zaghfar also blamed youth unemployment and lack of housing. He said the state’s inability to find practical solutions to these problems exacerbated the situation.

However Fatemeh Mohebi from the Faculty for the Study of Islamic Culture and Science claims that 78% of young men shun marriage because they are unhappy about the ‘improper, un-Islamic dress of Iranian girls’.

Meanwhile Amir Hussein Bankipoor, a senior lecturer at the University of Isfahan said “Relationships between young people, be they healthy or unhealthy, are a major barrier to marriage in today’s Iran. Some 25% of single female students resort to masturbation in the absence of a sexual relationship with someone of the opposite sex. Most male students are probably in unhealthy sexual relationships.”

The figures however tell a different story. The holy city of Qum for example has the highest divorce rate, despite the fact that all marriages there are arranged through traditional channels, and young people have fewer contacts and opportunities for sexual relationships than elsewhere.