Three months have passed since the end of the war, yet its aftermath continues to cast a heavy shadow over Iran’s labor market, particularly on women’s employment. While women held only a minuscule share of the job market even before the war, current indicators suggest that the post-war economic crisis and recession have exposed them more than ever to layoffs, downsizing, and severe job insecurity.
According to official data from the Statistical Center of Iran, only about 12% of working-age women are employed, with their economic participation rate hovering around 14%. In stark contrast, the employment rate for men stands at 63.9%, with an economic participation rate of 68.1%. Even though women make up more than half of university students and graduates in Iran, they continue to command only a tiny fraction of formal employment opportunities.
The first clear signs of this deepening post-war crisis were disclosed by Zahra Behrouz-Azar, the Vice President for Women and Family Affairs. She announced that women account for one-third of all applicants seeking unemployment insurance following the war, a figure that underscores their extreme vulnerability, given their already low representation in the workforce.
