TEHRAN – The budget bill for next year (March 21, 2022) has proposed 190 trillion rials (nearly $ 690 million) for procreation and population growth, IRIB reported on Saturday.
The declining marriage rate, followed by a dramatic decrease in childbearing, has raised alarm bells about an aging population, an issue that has forced government officials to enact legislation to support population growth and youth.
By a decree of President Ebrahim Raisi, the “Law on Family and Youth Support” approved by the Majlis (Iranian Parliament) was notified to the Ministry of Health and the Vice-Presidency for Women and Business family.
The Guardian Council approved the law on November 17, 2021 to implement a 7-year population growth and family support plan to change the downward trend in childbearing.
The plan includes health insurance for infertile couples, the provision of services and facilities for working women, health and nutrition support programs for mothers and children, educational opportunities for student mothers. , livelihood support for families, and ongoing medical services for pregnant women.
The budget will be provided to four responsible bodies of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and the Presidential Office.
Demographic problem
Today, the country’s fertility rate has reached about 1.6 children per woman, but it was 6.5 children per woman in 1986. The lowest fertility rate in the entire Asian region of l West, North Africa and MENA region is recorded for Iran.
While 1,594,000 births were registered in the [Iranian calendar] 1394 (March 2015-March 2016), the downward trend continued each year to the point that the number of births reached around one million in the [Iranian calendar] year 1399 (March 2020-March 2021).
In other words, we have lost over 550,000 births in five years.
The fertility rate has fallen to 1.71 children in the past [Iranian calendar] (March 2020-March 2021), reaching a level below the replacement level, according to the report published by the Statistical Center of Iran.
The replacement level is the amount of fertility needed to keep the population the same from one generation to the next. It refers to the total fertility rate which will result in a stable population without increasing or decreasing.
Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), wrote in an article in July 2020 that Iran’s fertility rate has fallen by 70% over the past 30 years, this which was the biggest drop in history.
Seyed Hamed Barakati, deputy health minister for families and school children, said in May 2020 that Iran’s population growth rate fell below 1% for the first time in the past four decades.
FB / MG