TEHRAN – Some 1,240 trillion rials (about $2.5 billion) was paid in marriage loans in the past Iranian calendar year that ended on March 20, showing 55 percent rise year on year.

Vahid Yaminpour, the deputy sports and youth minister, said the banking system paid 800 trillion rials (about $1.6 billion) in loans to newly-wed couples in the year 1400 (Mach 2021-March 2022), ISNA reported.

Official statistics of the country and the forecast of demographic experts indicate that if the trend of decreasing fertility rate, increasing single-child families, declining marriage rate, and increasing divorce rate continues for the next 30 years, old age will prevail in the country and one in three people will be over 60-years-old, which will be the beginning of a crisis.

Several socioeconomic factors, including urbanization, education, financial issues, first marriage age, increasing divorce rate, as well as increased access to family planning services along with increased time gap between the firstborn and marriage, lead to decreased fertility rate.

The Majlis (Iranian Parliament) approved on March 16, 2022, to implement a population growth and family support plan for 7 years to change the declining trend of childbearing.

The plan stipulates health insurance for infertile couples, providing services and facilities to working women, providing health and nutrition support packages to mothers and children, educational opportunities for student mothers, providing livelihood support to families, and ongoing medical services to pregnant women.

As the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has emphasized that the national development plans should focus on population growth, and on the other hand, the Expediency Council seeks a one-year extension of the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021), it was decided to implement the plan for 7 years.

The downward trend of population growth gradually decreases and reaches zero, then becomes negative. Negative population growth causes the population to disappear in the long run.

It is estimated that population growth will reach zero in 2040 and then becomes negative, so the biggest concern is that Iran's population will age in the coming years, fertility will decline, and the population of youth will decrease.

By a decree issued by 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 Family Affairs.

The Guardian Council approved the law on November 17 last year to implement a population growth and family support plan for 7 years to change the declining trend of childbearing.

The plan stipulates health insurance for infertile couples, providing services and facilities to working women, providing health and nutrition support packages to mothers and children, educational opportunities for student mothers, providing livelihood support to families, and ongoing medical services to pregnant women.

MG