{"id":116,"date":"2026-04-23T08:29:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T08:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/English\/?p=116"},"modified":"2026-05-15T18:33:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T18:33:06","slug":"war-the-intensification-of-poverty-and-what-is-to-be-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/war-the-intensification-of-poverty-and-what-is-to-be-done\/","title":{"rendered":"War, the Intensification of Poverty, and What Is to Be Done?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In one of the most turbulent political and economic periods in contemporary Iran\u2019s history, the lives and livelihoods of the working class and lower strata have come under greater pressure than ever before. Even before the war began, unemployment and underemployment, along with meager wages and constant inflation, had worn down the lives of working families and the poor. Although official statistics sometimes showed relatively low unemployment rates, the reality was that a portion of the working-age population had effectively lost hope in finding jobs and exited the labor market. This means millions of people who are counted neither among the employed nor in unemployment statistics. Even before the war, the labor market was based on temporary contracts, uninsured work, daily wages, and easy dismissal. Construction workers, drivers, small vendors, municipal service workers, and a vast number of informal workers lived in a situation where a simple message or phone call could cut off their livelihood. In such conditions, the war acted as a final blow and, in a short time, pushed what had been decaying for years to the brink of collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initial estimates indicate the destruction of about one million jobs and the unemployment of around two million people during forty days of war. These figures only cover the formal sector. Behind these statistics lies a large number of people who, on paper, are still considered employed but have no income. Daily wage workers whose working days have dropped to a minimum, drivers without passengers or cargo, vendors whose earnings no longer even cover shop rent, and workers who have not been paid for months yet still appear on payroll lists. In this sense, the unemployment crisis is not only visible in labor office queues or official statistics, but shows itself on empty tables, in overdue rents, and in the despair of parents who no longer know how they will provide for tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside this, the rental housing crisis has reached a stage where, for many working-class and lower-income families, \u201chome\u201d has turned from a shelter into a permanent nightmare. The share of housing costs in the expenditure basket of tenant households has reached about 43 percent nationwide and nearly 60 percent in Tehran. This means that more than half of a family\u2019s income in large cities is spent just to remain under a roof; one that is not necessarily safe, not of good quality, and not even suited to the family\u2019s needs. Meanwhile, astronomical rents and deposits, combined with fixed, delayed, or very low wages, have effectively made many tenants unable to pay rent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to this crushing pressure, working families and even parts of the middle class have been forced to adopt short-term solutions. Forced migration from central neighborhoods to the outskirts, moving from large cities to smaller towns and even villages, sharing a small housing unit among several families, or living in smaller and more crowded homes are among these solutions. But perhaps the most bitter and widespread solution is returning to the parental home. For a young couple who have managed, with great difficulty, to establish an independent life, returning to the family home is a form of social and psychological retreat. It means losing independence, intensifying family tensions in crowded homes, placing additional pressure on parents who themselves are facing livelihood crises, and one can imagine the negative effects of this constraint on children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After unemployment and housing, the third ring of pressure is rising prices, runaway inflation, and the collapse of the national currency\u2019s value. According to official estimates, the inflation rate at one point surged to around 70 percent. For a working family, this means that a basket of goods that cost, for example, one million tomans last year now requires one and a half to two million tomans, while wages and salaries have never increased at the same rate. The result is the gradual removal of meat, chicken, fish, and even eggs from the diet, reduced consumption of dairy products and fruits, substitution with lower-quality and cheaper food items, and the expansion of food insecurity, especially for children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food insecurity threatens the future of a generation that will face hidden malnutrition, physical weakness, reduced concentration, and declining learning ability. This means that today\u2019s poverty is reproducing and deepening poverty in the future of this same society. Alongside this, the collapse in the value of Iran\u2019s currency to the point where an approximate rate of one dollar to one and a half million tomans is discussed means staggering price increases for any import-dependent goods. Those whose income is in rials and who have no access to foreign currency become poorer and more powerless every day, while a small minority with access to foreign exchange, foreign trade, or large rents multiply their assets several times over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In such a landscape, it is natural that many workers and laborers initially turn to individual solutions such as overtime work, holding multiple jobs, migration, selling household belongings, borrowing, and so on. Under these conditions, as long as the working class remains scattered, unorganized, and without a collective voice, every war, every sanction, every economic decision, and every crisis will weigh first and foremost on their shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is from here that the issue of organization, the right to strike, and the right to form independent labor organizations rises from the level of a theoretical or trade discussion to the level of a vital necessity for survival. A lone worker, facing an employer, a landlord, a bank, the state, and a ruthless market, has virtually no defensive power. But organized workers can build bargaining power and resistance for fair wages, unemployment insurance, price and rent control, job security, and improved working conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The end of the war can and must mark the beginning of a new phase of broad and conscious struggles to gain the right to strike and the right to organize. As long as these rights are not imposed on the power structure in both formal and practical terms, the struggle for livelihood demands will inevitably remain scattered, localized, and ineffective. But with the imposition and consolidation of these rights, the struggle for bread, housing, healthcare, and education will move onto a more comprehensive and effective path, and the way will be paved for taking further steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today more than ever, workers and laborers need to emerge from isolation and fragmentation, to create circles of solidarity in workplaces and neighborhoods from forming financial solidarity funds to broader forms of organization. They must take small but persistent steps toward building independent and real organizations. Repeated crises have shown that only through unity, organization, and collective struggle can one stand against this storm and open the horizon toward a more dignified life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In one of the most turbulent political and economic periods in contemporary Iran\u2019s history, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[24,10,18,8,11,35,15],"post_badge":[],"class_list":["post-116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-quote","tag-communist-party-of-iran","tag-cpi","tag-daily-quote","tag-komala","tag-kurdistan","tag-poverty","tag-war"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/photo_6003642511013907764_y.jpg",1280,993,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/photo_6003642511013907764_y-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/photo_6003642511013907764_y-300x233.jpg",300,233,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/photo_6003642511013907764_y-768x596.jpg",640,497,true],"large":["https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/photo_6003642511013907764_y-1024x794.jpg",640,496,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/photo_6003642511013907764_y.jpg",1280,993,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/photo_6003642511013907764_y.jpg",1280,993,false],"pk-small":["https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/photo_6003642511013907764_y.jpg",80,62,false],"pk-thumbnail":["https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/photo_6003642511013907764_y.jpg",290,225,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/photo_6003642511013907764_y.jpg",922,715,false],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/photo_6003642511013907764_y.jpg",645,500,false],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/photo_6003642511013907764_y-1024x794.jpg",1024,794,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/photo_6003642511013907764_y-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/photo_6003642511013907764_y.jpg",322,250,false]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Daily Quote<\/a>","tag_info":"Daily Quote","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118,"href":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions\/118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_badge","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_badge?post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}